The ABC's of Captain Swan
by P0ttergirl
Summary: Captain Swan one-shots inspired by a word starting with each letter of the alphabet. It will be primarily fluff with some angst. People who have read my works in the past will recall that I specialize in fluff that is sweet enough to give you cavities.
1. Always

**Author's Note: Each chapter will be themed around a word beginning with each letter of the alphabet. I'm doing this more as an exercise to get back into writing rather than crafting an excellent piece of literature. Obviously some chapters will be better than others as some letters are harder to come up with a great theme. I won't promise regular updates all the way through but I currently have completed all the way up until the letter C and so those will at least be posted on a regular schedule. Currently my favourite prewritten piece is Blue. Feel free to drop a review with ideas of what you want written for a certain letter. Just a quick few heads up that some of the stories will be based in the canon OUAT universe and others will be completely AU. And lastly the ratings on various chapters will vary but will not exceed a T rating as I'm pretty sure I would explode from mortification from writing something of a higher level, and I severely doubt my ability to write a smut piece accurately.**

Always

In her years as a bails bonds person Emma had a number of people tell her to go to Hell. She couldn't say that she ever expected to actually be making the trip there, especially when she was still alive. Although Emma might not have been a Charming by name, she was most definitely one by blood and the Charmings always found their family. So since her pirate had found his way into the Underworld she would do everything in her power to get him back, even if it meant chasing him and his leather coat straight to Hell.

Emma was mildly surprised when everyone immediately agreed to join her on her trek to the Underworld, but she really shouldn't have expected any less from the Charmings. Emma was met with even more surprises when the Underworld appeared to be a messed up version of Storybrooke. The heroes spread out to search for Killian with Henry accompanying Emma. The two made their way to the docks to search for Killian and his ship.

Emma let a huge smile cross her face as she saw the Jolly Roger docked at the ocean port. She and Henry made their way carefully onto the board in case it was a trap. Emma's heart sank as she discovered the boat completely empty. Henry noticed his mothers change in demeanour and gave her a quick hug "we'll find him" he whispered.

She ruffled his hair "of course we will kid, no one is giving up yet". With very little ideas of where to search next the duo made their way to the Underworld Granny's to once again turn up empty handed. After searching the entire town and still coming up empty handed the heroes regrouped on Killian's boat. Despite the fact that Killian's extravagant attire normally stood out in a crowd he seemed impossible to be found. Emma found herself turning over the items in Killian's quarters in hopes of finding a clue to his whereabouts. She refused to give up on finding him, but even Emma had to admit that she was losing hope in the case. Most of the people she chased skipping their bail were easier to track down then Killian. She moved some of the old maps off of the desk to discover a copy of the newspaper. She skimmed the paper ignoring the articles about mayoral election and the advertisements until she got to the real estate section. Circled carefully in a red marker was the house they were supposed to share together in Storybrooke. Emma was disappointed when the house wasn't able to found during their earlier search of the town. The article looked identical to the one she had seen in Camelot but the address was different. Emma decided that he had to be there and headed for the door. Snow intercepted her and asked if she needed anyone to come along. Emma felt like this was something she needed to do alone.

And so Emma found herself staring at the house in the middle of the forest all alone. She didn't know what she would do if it turned out he wasn't there. She knocked with trepidation and stood silently beside the door. At first there was nothing but silence and Emma feared that there was no one home and that she had once again failed in her quest to find Killian. The fear was knocked from her mind when she heard a familiar voice yell from within "How many times have I told you to leave me alone?". The door opened to reveal a very irritated looking Killian. At the moment he registered Emma's presence his face transitioned from one of annoyance to confusion and finally settled on a huge smile. Killian was still shocked and simply muttered "How?".

Emma smiled and said "I told you that I would always find you". She quickly wrapped her arms around him and held him close. If Emma had her way she would never let her pirate go again.


	2. Blue

**Blue**

Neither of them were big into huge celebrations but Mary Margret was still disappointed at not getting to plan her daughters first ball so she demanded the party be huge. "After all" as Snow said "Emma is the crown princess and so everyone in the land has to be invited". And so the plans went from a small gathering on Killian's ship to the much larger town square which could accommodate everyone.

A week before the big day Emma and Killian sat together side by side on the couch enjoying a few glasses of rum. Killian was a man of traditions so when Emma made the mistake of mentioning the tradition of having something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue at the wedding he immediately insisted they follow it through. Emma laughed "Killian you practically fit that description already. You are over a few centuries old, yet you still look amazingly young thanks to your time in Neverland." She smiled "your eyes are the best blue I've ever seen".

"What about the borrowed part?" Killian asked teasingly. Emma's brows furrowed in thought. He had to admit she looked adorable when she made that face.

"Hmmmm... I've borrowed you from the Enchanted Forest" she said unsure as how to make it fit. Killian chuckled and told her that he couldn't be used as their 'somethings'.

-CS-

A week later Killian counted off the things around them: one something old in the form of Emma's veil which had been sewn by Granny before Emma was even born. Their something new was in the form of his tuxedo which he had swapped for his typical leather jacket and their something borrowed was Emma's dress. Snow had insisted that Emma wear her dress from when she married David. Emma didn't really care what she wore so long as she married Killian in it, so it had been an easy concession to keep the Queen happy. Not that Emma would ever admit to it but she was rather fond of the idea to wear her mother's old dress. Killian glanced around the reception looking for something blue, but he couldn't spot anything. He made a mental note to ask Emma about that later as he was swept onto the dance floor.

-CS-

Hours later Emma tossed her heels into the corner of the room as she made her way to sit on the couch. She smiled at him jovially "We managed to make it through the ceremony and reception without some new villain showing up".

He laughed at her comment "Indeed, I'm surprised some new foe didn't show up demanding the life of our first born or something". Emma looked slightly nervous. "Is everything all right love?" Killian asked immediately furrowing his brows in worry.

She smiled but still looked nervous and asked "do you want to be a dad Killian?".

Killian regarded her carefully "we have Henry who is absolutely amazing, but if someday you wanted to add onto our family I would be more than happy to do so." He waggled his eyebrows while saying "besides, the making kids part is rather fun". She laughed at that and seemed less nervous. Emma appeared to have made up her mind and reached for the clutch she had been carrying all night. She opened it and handed Killian a blue piece of folded fabric from within the purse. Killian felt fairly confused as he unfolded the fabric, and his heart nearly stopped as he saw a small pirate ship emblazoned on the blue baby jumper. Killian was stunned speechless.

Emma was concerned about the silence and began to ramble "I'm not sure of the gender because they normally can't tell the sex until the 18-20 week mark but Ruby thought it would be a boy and anyways it fit better with the theme".

Killian cut her off by lifting her into the air and spinning her around. Just a few hours ago he thought he would never be happier then when he was marrying Emma but somehow he was even happier now. "Thank you Emma, I've never been happier in my life". Emma smiled relieved at his words.

-CS-

Killian didn't think he could ever be happier but he was proven wrong 8 months later when Liam David Swan-Jones was born with his mother's blonde hair and his father's blue eyes. After much waiting they finally had another pirate to join their crew.

 **Author's Note: Two chapters in one day. That's way better then my usual posting schedule. Feel free to drop a review and feed my muse if you enjoyed it or if you absolutely hated it let me know. Please just try and keep it constructive criticism. Peace out lovelies.**


	3. Coffee Shop AU

**Author's Note: I don't usually feature Neal in fics nor do I think of him as the villain he's portrayed as in this fic. That being said I needed someone to play the villain and he has a more established history with Emma, than say Walsh. So apologies in advance to any of you super Neal fans.**

Killian looked up from wiping down the counter into the beautiful green eyes of the woman across the counter. Killian introduced himself "Hi welcome to Jolly Rogers coffee. I'm Killian and I will be your barista today". Killian felt his heart flutter slightly at the smile that spread across her face. The blonde ordered a hot chocolate with cinnamon and sat at the table in the corner. She pulled out a copy of Grimms' Fairytales and began to read. Killian marvelled at her unique choice in books; many people were turned off by Grimms' rather grim subject matter. Killian's personal favourite was The Three Snake Leaves, it featured revenge and time at sea. Killian felt himself drawn to the mysterious blonde with the unique taste in literature. He drew his eyes away to help the next customer.

-CS-

After a long rush of customers Killian turned his gaze back to the girl with the book just in time to see a dark haired man sit down at her table. The girl didn't look up from the book, but from the fond expression on the other man's face it was clear that they were more than just acquaintances. Killian inwardly sighed, of course she had a boyfriend. The man smiled and attempting to rouse her from her book by calling out what Killian assumed was her name "Emma". Emma looked up from her book and the smile that had previously stretched across her face faded in an instant replaced with an angry scowl.

"Neal" she said with venom practically dripping from her voice. Clearly Killian had slightly miscalculated their relationship. "Leave. Now." Emma said glaring at the man across from her.

A flash of hurt crossed Neal's face which was soon replaced with frustration "Emma, please it didn't mean anything". At that the anger on Emma's face was replaced entirely with hurt.

Killian had to strain his ears to hear her next sentence. Much quieter than she was moments ago Emma said "the moment you cheated on me with Tamara you ended our relationship". "Please" she nearly begged "leave". Neal made no movement to get up from the table and opened his mouth to continue the argument. Killian didn't know when he had started moving but before Neal could get another word in edgewise Killian was already at their table.

Killian smirked sardonically at Neal "I'm afraid you haven't purchased anything so I'm going to need to ask you to leave".

Neal turned to glare at Killian "I'll have a coffee".

"Oh sorry I should have been more explicit" Killian said vehemently "we don't serve asshats at this establishment".

Neal turned furious at that, his face practically turning red with anger. Killian found himself taking delight in imagining the metaphorical steam shooting out of Neal's ears. Neal spat out "I'd like to speak to your manager".

"Ah" Killian paused for dramatic effect "I happen to own this establishment. Now out you get". Neal stood angrily and rushed out slamming the door behind him.

Killian turned back to head to the counter when he heard her voice stopping him in his tracks "thank you... for that". She paused awkwardly "I'm Emma by the way".

Killian moved back to the counter and whipped up another cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon. He placed it carefully on the edge of the table without interrupting Emma, who had gone back to reading in his absence. She looked up from her book "I didn't order anything" she said slightly confused.

"It's on the house" Killian said with a smile.


	4. Disapproval

**Disapproval**

 **This is to fill in a request by CaptainSwanFan who requested F for Forbidden and that it be a no curse AU in which Emma fall for Killian against her parents best wishes. Hopefully you don't mind that I changed the word as I wanted to save F for Family, but I still think I stayed with the essence of your request.**

 **Also as a secondary note the Henry in this fic isn't actually Emma's kid but I couldn't help but bring in some of his childhood imagination and innocence into it.**

 **Finally this chapter is extra long thanks to all of the fantastic people who favourited, followed and reviewed the previous chapters. Thanks for feeding my muse.**

From a young age Crown Princess Emma Charming had been taught to never trust a villain. It was no secret that the Evil Queen Regina had wanted Emma dead since before she was born. And anyone who could help Regina with her goal would be well rewarded. The person capable of bringing Emma to the Evil Queen would have more gold then they could ever dream of. Subsequently disreputable individuals of all types were forever attempting to kidnap her. And so it was only a matter of time before Emma found herself chained up and handcuffed to a post in a small dark wooden room. Looking back on it Emma should have been far more careful, wandering off from her handler Lancelot to get some alone time probably wasn't the smartest course of action. Nor was turning her back on the storekeeper to examine a bolt of fabric. Emma had the bruise on the back of her head to prove it. The room she was in seemed to be rocking back and forth either from the nausea caused by her concussion or from something else entirely. There was a slight creaking and suddenly the door to the room opened filling the room with blinding light. Bright light was synonymous with the good magic, but the person who entered into the door was anything but good. Emma's eyes widened in panic; standing in the doorway was the second most sinister pirate to sail the seas of the Enchanted Forest, Black Beard. Although Emma's situation was grim at best she was still fairing better than if Captain Hook himself had opened her door.

"Glad to see your up Princess" he said icily. He continued his speech "Sorry that your quarters are a bit cramped, but you shan't be in there much longer. We've got about a week before we reach the Evil Queen's castle, and at that point the cramped quarters are the least of your worries". Emma glared at the pirate captain. Black Beard merely smirked back "if you have any discomforts or need anything please don't hesitate to keep quiet about it, because I don't care". With his speech complete he turned and slammed the door behind him, once again enveloping the small room in darkness.

After 21 years of life Emma was finally going to die, and all because of some stupid pirates. Her parents had spent her entire childhood warning her about the danger of pirates and yet, here she was chained up in what she assumed was some storage room on Black Beard's ship. She may be the Crown Princess but Emma had never been one for manners and so she was on the verge of letting out some pretty choice words capable of making even a sailor blush when the door cracked open momentarily before shutting once again. Emma saw a scrap of parchment slide across the floor and decided to investigate. Written in some of the best penmanship Emma had ever seen (which is saying something since royalty were encouraged to practice penmanship) was a very brief note. The note read "Ready yourself love. I can't wait until we meet" and it bore the signature of one Killian Jones. How this Killian Jones fellow managed to get her a note despite what was likely a set of guards outside her cell was rather impressive. Emma didn't know how to take the note, was this Killian Jones planning on saving her or sending her a threat to warn her of his arrival. Either way Emma figured that whomever he was, he was probably a better option than allowing Black Beard to hand her over to the Evil Queen.

-CS-

Trapped in the room without access to sunlight Emma had very little concept of time, judging by the amount of times the scullery boy had brought her small morsels of food it had likely been around two days since she had awoken at sea. The scullery boy Henry was rather sweet and clearly wasn't on the boat by choice. Emma hoped that whomever this Killian man was that he would allow Emma to take Henry along. After all the poor boy couldn't have been more than 10 and judging by the bruises on his arm he wasn't treated very kindly on the ship. Apparently Henry had been picked up at the same port where the unconscious Emma had been loaded on to the ship. Their previous scullery boy had died due to illness at sea and Henry happened to be alone at the docks. In other words it was perfect timing for a band of brutish pirates in need of someone to help cook. Emma felt bad that Henry had been abducted from the town but she appreciated having someone who she could chat to when he brought her meals. It made the hours of silence she endured more bearable. But now sitting in the dark alone Emma felt a little stir crazy. One of the features of being wanted dead by the Evil Queen meant you had almost no alone time. Emma wasn't use to the silence she was experiencing in her enclosed space. She swore that if she spent much more time in the room she might go a more than a little insane.

At the moment Emma began contemplating whether the spoon that came with her meal could be used as a weapon to hold up the ship, a large clatter could be heard from above. Emma heard a loud boom followed by a crashing noise coming from somewhere to the side of her room. Emma welcomed the distraction from her boredom and tried to listen in for further noises. A loud thud sounded from just outside her room and shortly thereafter Henry entered holding a frying pan. To say Emma was mildly confused was a huge understatement. With absolutely no explanation Henry pulled out a key and deftly unclamped her wrists. "Let's go" he said tugging on Emma's hands. Although she didn't know what was going on she trusted his judgement and decided to follow along.

The two ran through a maze of hallways and finally reached a ladder heading to the ships deck. The upper deck was in complete chaos with every crew member locking sabres with a crew from a larger ship pulled up next to it. The duelling crew members were oblivious to Emma and Henry's presence as they raced to the larger boat. Those that did notice their presence were too busy engaged in sword fighting to block their progress. Emma glanced up in time to see the pirate flag flying on the other boat as they crossed the threshold onto the other ship. A super attractive man dressed in all leather shouted out "We've acquired the goods" as he ushered Emma and Henry into the captain's quarters. Everything was happening too fast for Emma to even be afraid of the pirate flag she witnessed as she boarded the ship.

As Emma and Henry sat waiting for the fighting to cease Emma's brain finally began to kick in and process the event. There was only one pirate ship that was capable of putting up a fight against Black Beard and it was Captain Hook, which would make the leathered crusader Captain Hook. Emma tried to focus, her brain hadn't registered a hook where his hand should be, but it was only a brief glimpse of him that she got. Plus Emma had been rather distracted by his leathered attire and hadn't really glanced at his hand. Emma could ask Henry but she felt more than a little betrayed. How likely was it that at the same time she was kidnapped a young boy would be brought on the ship? Why did Henry take her arm and run directly for the other ship? Why did he seem so calm instead of panicked? The only possible answer was that he too was involved in the orchestration of her kidnap onto the Jolly Roger, and Emma's mind didn't want to believe that. Henry's mouth opened as if to speak but closed it awkwardly. It was clear he knew about this the entire time. Nothing he could say could change that. The clanking and crashing of metal died down and Emma felt their ship begin to move. The deafening silence was interrupted by the door creaking open. In sauntered Captain Hook in his full leather attire and trademark hook.

"Apologies about the abrupt meeting earlier, lass" he said while giving a quick bow. "I'm Killian Jones, but you may be more familiar with my more colourful moniker Captain Hook" he said introducing himself. And with that Emma's last shred of hope of being saved flew out the window. Emma suspected the letter might have been from Hook but a part of her was holding out that she had someone else coming to get her. Emma was strong and independent, she was never one to play the damsel in distress, but she was also realistic and knew she couldn't take down an entire pirate ship on her own. Her silence seemed to be unnerving the captain. "Are you all right lass?" he asked with concern etching his brows. Emma was flabbergasted by the pirate's concern. He placed his hand on her chin and angled it up to examine her face. She shied backward as if scalded by his touch. He seemed to get the message and left the room.

Henry glanced around awkwardly "Killian intends to bring you back to your parents". Emma remained silent at his words, so Henry left to give her some space. Emma was furious, the worst part was that Henry genuinely believed that this heartless pirate was going to deliver her back to her parents safe and sound. Emma's parents always taught her to try and see the best in everyone, but even they instructed her to be wary of pirates, least of all a pirate as fearsome as Captain Hook. Still Emma never expected a pirate to show genuine concern over her well being.

-CS-

A few hours passed leaving Emma once again alone with her thoughts. A quiet knock sounded on her door and she heard the pirates accented cadence "May I come in?". She had to admit she didn't expect the pirate to have manners.

"Come in" Emma decided to keep her manners if the pirate was going to be polite. She was the Crown Princess after all and if the Evil Queen didn't kill her then Snow surely would for her rudeness. The pirate captain walked in and gave her a slight bow. She raised her eyebrows in question.

He smiled "a princess demands a level of respect".

She gave him a questioning look "respect even from a pirate captain?".

Killian's eyes darkened for a few moments "certain royals deserve my respect". Almost as quickly as the darkness appeared it was once again gone. The change was so quick that Emma could have attributed it to the trick of the light. "Anyways" he continued "I came to inform you that we've reached port. We need to refill on supplies after our duel with Black Beard especially because we left early to chase after his ship before we finished purchasing the necessary supplies. I wanted to see if you would be interested in accompanying me ashore?". Emma obviously looked confused as he continued on "of course there will be certain conditions, firstly you will not leave my side, secondly you will not try and draw attention to yourself, and finally you will not try and escape".

"Or what?" Emma asked "You'll kill me? I'm pretty sure you need me alive as the Evil Queen wants the honour of killing me herself".

Killian looked momentarily amused "I have no intention of handing you over to the Evil Queen". If Emma's eyebrows raised any higher she was pretty sure they would no longer be on her head. "As Henry informed you I intend to bring you home to your parents. I prefer to avoid dealing with the Evil Queen if at all possible as she was once the apprentice to someone I rather detest. Your parents have access to the information regarding this individual and I believe they will be more than willing to exchange your safety for said information" he explained. Emma wasn't sure if she believed the captain's words however her options involved trusting him long enough to at least get ashore, otherwise if he was lying and taking her to the Evil Queen, she would have no chance at escape.

Emma broke out her winning princess smile "I would be most grateful to to accompany you ashore".

"Excellent" he said with a smile of his own and offered Emma his arm. Emma once again found herself impressed by the Hook's manners. He was a like a true gentleman escorting her around the royal court. Emma found herself wondering where a pirate captain had learned such amazing manners.

They made their way out onto the deck. A portly man in a red cap walked up to them. He saluted the captain and bowed gently towards Emma. "The name's Smee" he said by way of introduction. "Everything should be prepared for you now Captain" he said with a slight smile.

"Thank you Smee" said Hook. Emma was mildly impressed that the captain even seemed to show a level of respect to his first mate.

They walked a few yards before Killian chose to elaborate on the conversation "I can't expect my crew to respect me if I don't show them a level of respect". From Emma's brief time on Black Beard's ship and the bruises dotting Henry's arms she could tell that they clearly ran things very differently on their boats. It was no wonder that Henry seemed to admire Captain Hook.

-CS-

They hadn't been walking for long before Killian stopped in front of a pub. "After you milady" he said opening the door and gesturing for her to enter. Emma had heard stories about the rowdy pubs filled with pirates but for safety reasons she had never been allowed to enter one before. She had to say she was taken aback by how clean the place was. Clearly this was a more upscale establishment than the ones discussed in sea shanties.

A busty barmaid with brown curls came to their table "it's nice to see you again Killian" she mock pouted "it's been too long since you last visited".

Killian let out a low chuckle "apologies lass, but I've been out at sea adventuring. Would it be possible to get two glasses of rum for myself and my lady friend?". The barmaid finally turned to face Emma and regarded her with disdain.

"Anything for _Killian_ " she said practically purring his name and turned to leave. She returned moments later and gently handed Killian his mug and practically slammed Emma's down onto the table. Killian took a long pull of his rum. Emma had had wine before at the castle, but she didn't know what to expect from rum. She did know however that after the stress of being kidnapped a drink might be nice. She took a sip and wasn't expecting the slight burning sensation and coughed a bit. She appreciated the sweetness that followed though. She decided if she didn't end up getting handed over to the Evil Queen she could definitely get use to the flavour of rum.

Killian smirked at her cough "alright there lass?". She nodded her head, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she wasn't prepared for the burning feeling. They sipped in silence for awhile, surprisingly to Emma the silence didn't feel awkward or unbearable, if she was pressed she might even say it felt companionable. "Oh I almost forgot" Killian said interrupting the silence and reached into his pocket. He took out a ring and handed it to Emma. Emma could feel the slightly panicked expression cross her face. She wished this damn pirate could stop doing things that surprised her. He amused himself with her expression "it's easier for travel purposes if you pretend to be my wife while we are on land. The last thing I want is the Evil Queen or another group of pirates getting word that I have the bloody princess on my boat. I'd rather not have some hellish demon chasing us down". Emma eyed the ring with suspicion but elected to put it on. The last thing she wanted to do was draw the Evil Queen's attention if Hook truly intended to return her to her parents.

"How do I look" Emma asked jokingly flashing the ring like a newly engaged woman.

Killian chuckled lightly but his response seemed oddly sincere "you look perfect". Emma felt a blush creep up her cheeks. She wasn't really expecting him to compliment her like that. He smiled "you're even prettier when you blush". She glared hoping to shut him up. "What a man can't compliment his wife?" he asked jokingly. Emma just rolled her eyes at him in response.

"So..." Emma said in an attempt to change the conversation "What information could the great Captain Hook want from my parents?".

"Call me Killian darling," he said "we're married remember".

Emma had a war of thoughts in her head. She decided to relent. "Okay" she started awkwardly. "What information could the great Killian Jones want from my parents?" she asked.

"Better" he said with a smile before continuing "I'm looking to locate the weakness of a certain enemy".

"Does this enemy have a name?" Emma asked.

"Aye. But I call him The Crocodile" Killian replied. Emma raised her eyebrows at that. Killian elaborated "it's a rather fitting name, love if you've ever seen his cracked skin". Emma laughed at his words and began to laugh even harder when she noticed the barmaid glaring her way.

"So what exactly did this Crocodile do then? Bite off your hand?" Emma guessed jokingly.

Killian's eyes turned dark for a moment "it wasn't so much biting off my hand as cutting it off". Emma immediately stopped laughing and opened her mouth to apologize. Killian cut her off "it's okay love, I intend to get my revenge on him for _everything_ he's done". Emma felt a slight chill run down her spine at his words.

-CS-

The two sat making chit chat for a few hours. Emma felt a little surprised that she had actually enjoyed being in the pirate's presence. Killian had been telling her about some of his various adventures at sea when Henry arrived to inform them they were once again ready to set sail.

-CS-

"A week!" Emma practically shouted once they were back aboard the Jolly Roger.

Killian rubbed his temples like he had a headache. "We can't take the direct route back to your castle" he explained "or we risk running into other pirate ships which will likely be informed that you are now on the Jolly Roger. Just because the ring fooled the people on land doesn't mean it will fool those at sea".

Admittedly Emma understood what Killian was saying, likely every pirate sailing the Enchanted Oceans had been informed that Emma Swan was upon the Jolly Roger by Black Beard; but that didn't mean she wanted to spend an entire week with the pirate captain no matter how attractive he was. Emma immediately internally scolded herself, where had that last part of her thought even come from? Why was she even considering the attractiveness of Killian Jones? Her parents had literally spent most of her childhood warning her about the dangers of pirates; and yet here she was thinking about how good looking one of them was. Clearly the rum she had drank was loosening her mind a bit more than she had realized. Oh well what was the worst that could happen in a week? It wasn't like Emma was going to fall in love with the pirate captain or anything. She just needed to hold on for a week and she would be back with her family in no time, and sadly as an afterthought Emma added that he would be off on another adventure to seek revenge on this supposed Crocodile.

Killian spoke interrupting her internal monologue "we will be leaving at first light tomorrow since it is rather late. In the meantime you may rest in the captain's quarters".

Emma was a little pissed off at his suggestion. "No way in Hell" she said glaring at him.

"Relax" Killian said making a calming gesture with his hands "I will be residing with the rest of the crew. I thought this might be preferable to you sleeping in the brig". Emma was still suspicious that the pirate didn't have any funny business planned but she found herself strangely touched by his thoughtfulness.

"Thank you" she replied "that would be most agreeable". Killian walked her to the captain's quarters and handed her a key from around his neck with which she could lock the door. Emma felt a little less nervous now that she knew the door was capable of being locked from the inside.

-CS-

On the first day of their travels Emma stayed inside the captain's quarters for most of the day. Although she was permitted to wander around the ship she didn't really desire to consort with all the pirates on board. Henry had brought her lunch around midday and sat and ate with her. He apologized for leaving out the details about the rescue ship being led by the pirate captain. Apparently according to Henry, Killian was a very fair man and only punished the crew that disobeyed the rules. Those that did disobey; however, faced hard punishments ranging anywhere from hard labour, being kicked off at the next port, or for major infractions, being forced to walk the plank at sea. In the 3 years Henry had been aboard only a half dozen people had been forced to walk the plank.

-CS-

When evening hit Emma decided to take a stroll on the boat as she thought it would be less populated at night. She was immediately taken aback by the beauty of the stars at sea. She walked around the boats edge and stopped when she saw Killian at the wheel. Emma knew she should continue her walk but she couldn't stop herself from taking in the view. He looked fantastic lit up by the star light. Emma was thankful that he seemed oblivious to her presence. She decided to make herself scarce and continued on her walk.

-CS-

Her second day was much like the first, she had lunch with Henry and waited to go out and walk under the stars. This time as she walked by the Captain he noticed her presence and called Emma to him. Instead of going back to her cabin she spent the evening listening to him tell the stories of the stars. He told her the story of Cygnus, and the story behind the Northern star. Each moments she spent with him she found herself slipping down the dangerous slope of love. Rationally Emma knew a relationship between the pirate captain and herself would never work. For one thing she was a Crown Princess so she was expected to marry royalty, for another her parents would never approve of her courting a pirate; especially one with a reputation like Hook's. A princess was supposed to reside in her castle not be out adventuring the sea with a pirate, and besides for Killian this was merely just a way to get the information he wanted. He obviously was a natural flirt if his interaction with the barmaid was anything to go on. Killian couldn't possibly develop feelings for her. Or could he?

 **Author's Note: So this singular chapter is longer than any of my other works. My muse kind of ran away from me and I actually ended it earlier than I intended because I realized it was getting ridiculously long. I contemplated just turning this into a straight up multi chaptered AU fic, but I know I'd never be able to keep two fics going at the same time with regular updates. However if you guys enjoyed this chapter I might try and incorporate it into a future letter. Or when I'm done with the alphabet I might finish the AU in a seperate story. If you liked or hated the longer chapter format let me know in a review. Or feel free to tell me something completely random like what you had for breakfast.**

 **Also as a side note I actually have F, G and M finished and ready to post; but none of the letters in between have been written. I actually have some level of motivation going so that you can see M which I really like.**


	5. Easy

**Disclaimer: I realized I never put this earlier in the work so excuse my late inclusion of it. I don't own OUAT or it's characters, because if I did Killian and Emma would be happily married by now.**

Emma Swan would be one of the first people to tell you that relationships take a lot of work. But for some reason her relationship with Killian had been relatively easy. It wasn't that there was a lack of drama in their relationship (she had left him at the top of a beanstalk and been forced to watch him die on numerous occasions), but Killian had never given up on her. He was always willing to put in the work in order to break down the heavily fortified walls of her heart. Whenever she tried to run in hopes of stopping herself from getting emotionally hurt, he had stopped her. He never let her forget how much he loved her.

His never ending support of her wasn't the only thing that made their relationship easy, almost everything about their relationship seemed easy. Her hand interlaced perfectly with his. Their lips slotted together like two puzzle pieces. His blue eyes could calm any storm swelling inside her. No matter the villain Emma found herself facing she could count on Killian to be there, standing beside her against whatever the struggle might be. Being the saviour isn't an easy job; however, it seemed infinitely easier with Killian standing there beside her, holding her hand.

So when Killian Jones finds his way into the Underworld Emma will stop at nothing to find her other half. And when she finally finds him bruised and battered but very much alive (well at least as alive as one can be in the Underworld) she takes his hand. Although finding a way to get him out of the Underworld certainly won't be easy Emma knows she can do it because she has her pirate at her side. And with him anything is possible.

 **Author's note: Thanks so much for reading. If you would like to leave a review, a favourite, or a follow it will be greatly appreciated. Apologies that this chapter is a bit short as I have midterms going on right now and two essays due.**


	6. Family

**Author's Note: For the purposes of this fic I've slightly aged down Henry from what he is in canon by a few years. Also minor hints of OutlawQueen because my shipper heart couldn't help bringing them in.**

'What constitutes a family?' is one of the questions with the most varied answers next only to questions like 'What is the meaning of life?' or 'What is love?'. Henry's answer to this question was perhaps one of the most unique answers of all. Jokingly Killian had started compiling a family tree to deal with the mess with which they could add on whatever new villain happened to stroll into Storybrooke. Henry's family tree included a variety of Moms, Step-Dads, and Grandparents who all loved him an awful lot. Even the people he wasn't technically related to by blood or marriage might as well have been his family. For all intents and purposes Henry was pretty much related to the entire town.

Henry even had a step brother whom he loved with all his heart, Roland. But of all the roles in Henry's illustrious family tree there had always been one role left completely unoccupied. Henry Daniel Mills had no sister. Technically Henry Daniel Mills wasn't even his full name, but it was far easier then continuously filling out forms as Henry Daniel Mills-Locksley Swan-Jones. Now you might think that with his absolute abundance of family Henry wouldn't even notice the lack of a sister; but then you would be quite wrong. Henry dreamed of someday having a younger sister to tease, to scare boyfriends away from, and to chase around the yard. No matter how many Christmases Henry asked Santa for a sister it was to no avail. Until one year Santa finally delivered and on December 25 Buttercup Mary Swan-Jones was born. She had her mother's beautiful blonde hair and her father's piercing blue eyes. Henry couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present. Although he appreciated his sisters presence less once he discovered it meant a lot of nights staying up listening to her cry. It turns out baby sisters weren't great at sleeping through the night.

No matter how irritating his baby sister might be Henry would have done anything for her. If he could have lassoed the stars from the sky just to see her laugh he would have done so.

-CS-

16 years later when Buttercup had finally found a pirate of her own. Henry was a little surprised when her date for the evening was none other than Westley, Storybrooke High's resident troublemaker. Henry guessed it was to be expected especially since her father Killian was quite the ne'er-do-well in his time too. Much like Killian though Westley was also quite the believer in "good form". If Henry was being honest he actually rather liked the guy, but he wasn't going to let him know that. So when Westley arrived (on perfect time might he add) Henry made sure he sat by the door conveniently polishing his cutlass. And if Henry gestured and swung his sword slightly when he questioned the teen it certainly wasn't (italics) done to intentionally scare him, No Siree Bob. Henry just liked to swing his sword and did it completely (ITALICS) subconsciously. And if Killian gestured menacingly with his hook while they interrogated the poor lad it was completely accidental.

-CS-

Another five years later and Henry was the happiest brother in the world when his sister had requested that he be the one to walk her down the aisle. Westley had proven himself to be a man worthy of his sister and Henry could count the elite few who could do so on one finger alone. Although Henry would have lassoed the stars and the moon to make her smile it was no longer necessary now that she had found her happy ending. That being said he still wouldn't stop trying to do everything he could to make her smile.

-CS-

So yes Henry had two moms, two step dads, a whole host of grand parents, one passed away biological father, a step brother and finally a half sister. Although his family might be a little more unconventional than most he wouldn't trade it for anything.


	7. Garden

**Garden**

 **Author's note: This story is inspired by a prompt from awful-aus on tumblr. It's prompt #196 if you wish to find the exact prompt I've copied it down at the end but for the purposes of the story I would _strongly_ recommend looking at the prompt after you read the chapter. That being said I can't stop you so go ahead and scroll to the bottom, but again I would really suggest _not_ doing that.**

Once a week when Killian went to visit Milah he would stop and _borrow_ flowers from the garden he passed on his walk there. It had become a weekly ritual: leave work, walk past the house on the corner, pick a flower, and go to talk with Milah. It had been going on for almost four months when he reached down to grab a flower and felt a hand grab his shoulder. He turned to face a very beautiful but also very pissed off blonde.

She spoke irritably "you've been a little light fingered with my flowers". Killian felt embarrassed, he never expected to be caught in the act of stealing flowers from the garden.

He opened his mouth to explain himself "I'm sorry. I've been taking them to give to my girlfriend when I see her every week. She's been...".

The blonde cut him off mid-sentence "I'll come with you. I'm curious to see this girlfriend who is beautiful enough to be worth stealing my buttercups every week". Killian didn't really know what to say. He felt incredibly awkward but he realized it didn't seem like the woman would take no for an answer.

Killian nodded his assent and introduced himself "I'm Killian Jones". He extended his hand out to shake hers in greeting.

The woman smiled "I'm glad to finally make your acquaintance after almost four months of you stealing my flowers. I'm Emma". She stuck out her hand to shake his "Now who is this girlfriend your taking me to meet?" she asked.

Killian got a far away look in his eyes as he pictured his girlfriend "Milah".

"How did you two meet?" Emma asked him.

An expression of fondness crossed Killian's face "I met her in a bar. She was in the process of going through a nasty divorce with her husband". Killian smiled "she got up on the stage and started singing karaoke. Her voice was beautiful and I had fallen for her immediately".

Emma smiled "she sounds amazing". A slight flicker of pain crossed Killian's face. He shouldn't have let this conversation get so far. He really should have explained his visits with Milah sooner but part of him didn't want to say goodbye to the blonde. He reschooled his face into a smile before the blonde could even notice.

If Killian was being completely accurate Milah wasn't even his girlfriend anymore. He felt really awkward about the situation. Killian was lost in his thoughts 'How was he possibly supposed to explain that they were headed to'

Emma cut off his train of thoughts by speaking "so how long have you and Milah known each other?".

"4 years" Killian replied.

"Wow" Emma said impressed "It sounds like you two were close".

Killian smiled but didn't reply. Emma glanced around. They were reaching the city limits of the small town. "So where exactly does Milah live?" She asked.

Killian felt a slight stabbing in his chest. He could see their intended place to visit and not really knowing how to explain it at this point just said "we are almost their now".

Emma shrugged her shoulders and continued following him "so long as this isn't a super elaborate ruse to lure me into the wilderness and murder me, we are all good". She laughed at her own joke lightly and Killian chuckled slightly.

Killian pulled Emma to a slight stop and gestured towards the structure "Milah is in there". Emma glanced over and a slight look of confusion crossed over her face which quickly morphed into sad understanding.

"I'm sorry" she said "I had no idea". It had been four months since Killian's girlfriend Milah had been murdered by her ex-husband Mr. Gold. He had been visiting her grave site once every week.

Killian smiled sadly "it's okay. I just didn't know what to tell you". Killian made his way to her grave as if on autopilot and placed the buttercups on the small plot. He stood there in silence and was caught off guard when he felt a quick squeeze on his right hand. He was surprised to see the blonde's hand in his.

Her eyes looked sad and far away as she said "I know what it feels like to lose the people you love". Emma stayed with him for twenty minutes while he payed his respects. It felt good to have someone there with him. Killian decided that he might like to get to know the story behind Emma's sad look at some point in the future. Maybe even someday pursue a relationship with her after the pain of losing Milah had faded. At the very least it was nice to have someone accompany him on his weekly visits.

 **Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading this chapter. If you would like to drop a review it would be greatly appreciated.**

 **Here's the prompt I used in case you were interested and also because I believe in giving credit where credit is due "Sometimes I steal flowers from your garden on my way to the cemetery, but today you've caught me to make sure the 'girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft' and I'm trying to figure out how to break it to you that we're on our way to a graveyard" AU**


	8. High School AU

**Author's Note: I am well aware that high school AUs are ridiculously cheesy and overdone but I can't help myself from writing my take on it. Plus no matter how cheesy they may be, they are one of my favourite fanfiction tropes.**

Emma had always been a straight A student whose most rebellious act had been making friends with the troublemaking Ruby. The most rebellious act of all was yet to come, namely falling for the school's resident troublemaker Killian.

Emma didn't know what she had done in a past life to end up partnered with the school slacker Killian Jones; but she figured she must have murdered someone to be stuck with him. It wasn't her fault that she was late to English, well it mostly wasn't her fault that the yearbook meeting ran late. Although if she wasn't such a perfectionist it probably wouldn't have taken anywhere near as long. So when Emma entered the classroom exactly 3 minutes and 42 seconds late everyone had already partnered up. Emma took a moment to glare at Ruby who had utterly betrayed her by partnering with Viktor, before sitting down at her desk. Emma was slightly alarmed when a binder slammed down on the desk beside her.

"I guess we're partners, love" an accented voice lilted beside her. Emma didn't have to look up to recognize the voice of none other than the local trouble maker Killian Jones.

" _Great_ " Emma said her voice practically oozing with contempt. It was no secret that Emma Swan was not a fan of Killian Jones. Everything that Emma was Killian wasn't, she was a goody two shoes and he was a trouble maker, she was a straight A student and she was pretty sure he couldn't be getting much more than D's, he was a practical joker and she was just plain practical.

Killian sounded slightly frustrated "I'm aware that I'm not your ideal partner but it wasn't my idea for Viktor to be partnered with Ruby". Emma finally looked up at his face. She could objectively see what made all the girls crazy about him with his blue eyes, slight scruff of facial hair, and an accent that could turn anyone to a puddle. On the other hand he was a notorious playboy who hadn't had a serious girlfriend in the entire time Emma had known him.

She decided it was best to be somewhat civil to him "I'll do all the work and you can sit there and look pretty".

He smirked as he asked "you think I'm pretty love?".

She rolled her eyes "pretty annoying".

"Ouch" he put his hand over his heart over-dramatically "you wound me, Swan".

Emma merely rolled her eyes once again in response "cool the theatrics, Jones".

Killian unzipped his binder and spoke "so which play would you like to study? I'm personally more of a Hamlet fan myself."

Emma felt a bit taken aback by his question "I said I would be more than happy to do it myself."

Killian smirked slightly "I'm not _just_ a pretty face you know. I do have a brain as well."

-CS-

She and Killian spent the rest of the period working out the logistics of their project. They were going to analyze tragic flaw in Hamlet. Emma was mildly impressed that Killian genuinely seemed like he intended to help with the project. She had immediately assumed that she would be completing it on her own, but Killian surprisingly appeared like he actually knew his Shakespeare. Still Emma wasn't planning on forgiving Ruby any time soon. Just as they were about to leave for their next respective class Killian had asked for her number 'for the project'. Despite being suspicious of any ulterior motives he might have, she decided him having it for the purposes of the project was probably for the best.

She had barely made it out the classroom door when her phone buzzed. Of course Killian had immediately taken advantage of having her number. She glanced down at her phone expecting some cheeky comment. She certainly wasn't expecting a message saying "Seriously, I just heard two girls discussing how romantic Romeo and Juliet was. Did they miss the part where almost everyone in the play died?".

Emma couldn't help the rather unladylike snort that escaped her nose. She knew texting him back was probably a bad idea but she unlocked her phone anyways. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard before firing back "at least they aren't discussing how attractive Leonard Whiting was in the film adaptation".

It was only a few moments before her phone blinked with another message "I'm pretty sure their words were 'I would have his babies if he wasn't ridiculously old now'. Please end my suffering".

Emma felt a smile cross her lips as she sent "don't be getting all Hamlety on me now". Ruby had finally stopped flirting with Viktor and had caught up to her. Emma stowed the phone in her jeans and turned to her friend.

Ruby merely smirked at her and said "that's your I like someone smile".

Emma was more than a little caught off guard and glared indignantly at her "it's not like that, at all".

Ruby's smirk didn't fade "Whatever you say. _The lady doth protest too much, methinks_ ". Emma prepared to fire back a retort but the bell rang breaking off their conversation. Emma sat down in her desk and attempted to listen to the teachers words. Admittedly Mr. Gold's history class was usually rather dull, but Emma had never had such trouble focusing on the lesson. The assertion that she would ever be romantically interested in him was entirely preposterous. Ruby had clearly flipped her lid if she thought something was going on between the two of them. Emma vowed to tell Ruby how absolutely insane she was as soon as this hellish period was over. Emma was pretty sure the clock was going backwards at this point... soon she would be actually experiencing whatever historical even Mr. Gold was discussing. Her hatred of history was interrupted by her phone buzzing. She covertly glanced down at the screen expecting a message from Ruby to the affect of 'kill me now'. If Emma hated history than Ruby actively despised it. What Emma actually got was another message from that ridiculous trouble-maker Killian Jones. Emma knew Mr. Gold had a strict no phone usage policy, but he currently had his back turned. Emma punched in her code and silently read the message "I can't believe you used the term 'Hamlety'".

She rolled her eyes and replied "Aren't you supposed to be in class right now".

It was only a few seconds before her phone lit with the words "Grumpy is going on a rant in geology again". Although ' _Grumpy_ ' was not actually their teacher's name the entire student body had silently agreed to unanimously forget his actual name and dubbed him Grumpy after the dwarf from Snow White. Another message arrived before Emma could come up with a reply "I could ask the same thing of you".

Emma glanced up and saw that whatever lecture Mr. Gold was giving appeared to be nearing its end so she quickly fired off a text with the word "touché" and slipped her phone back into her pocket. It turned out Emma had perfect timing as that was the moment her teacher chose to turn around and check on the classes attention. A few phones were confiscated but thankfully not Emma's, the last thing she wanted was to have her texts read out loud like she was a small child passing notes.

-CS-

Scarcely had the class ended than Ruby had cornered her with a mischievous grin. "What's with that look?" Emma asked while warily taken in her friend's smile.

"Nothing" Ruby replied evasively "You were texting someone pretty intently in class. And since those texts weren't going to me or Elsa, I can only assume it was to Captain Leather over there".

"Over where?" Emma asked slightly confused. Her friend merely shrugged. Emma followed her friend's line of sight to see him leaning against the bank of lockers with a look of nonchalance. He was looking right at her and Emma felt her heart beat involuntarily quicken.

"Oh there's Viktor, I'll leave you with Captain Leather to work on your _project"_ Ruby dashed off down the hall to meet with Viktor. Emma smiled at her friend's retreating form, it had been awhile since Ruby had seemed this genuinely excited over a guy. Her previous beau Peter had moved away without a trace leaving only a brief note to break up with her. Since then Ruby had flirted with tons of guys but she never seemed to remain interested in one guy for very long. Emma's train of thought was interrupted by Killian sauntering over to her.

"Hello, love. Can I hope that you and Ms. Lucas were discussing my dashing good looks?" he asked with an impish grin. Emma found herself remembering why she couldn't stand the guy. Killian was the cockiest guy she had never met. He was one of the guys who was well aware of how attractive he was and wasn't afraid to let you know it. She couldn't believe Ruby thought she was interested in him; he may have known about Shakespeare, but he certainly wasn't her type. Besides Emma refused to be the stereotypical smart girl in the books she read who fell for the moody bad boy who had a tendency to like famous literary pieces and some secret tragic past. Did Killian have a tragic past? Emma didn't know and she certainly didn't care, at least she wouldn't admit that she cared to know. Emma realized that she had been silent for far too long to just shrug off his comment. Emma looked up to see his smirking face. "I'll take that prolonged silence as a yes" he said. Emma just rolled her eyes in response to his statement. This would be her life for the next few days, rolling her eyes at his stupid comments while they worked on this project.

"Library?" Emma asked.

"Sure. Lead the way, milady" Killian said while making a sweeping gesture with his hands. They walked through the halls in companionable silence. Emma was used to rushing about and Ruby's nonstop chatter so silence was a bit odd. It felt nice though to just be in silence with someone. And if Emma happened to sneak a look at his profile while they walked it definitely wasn't because she was interested in him, she could just appreciate that he was attractive even if he was arrogant.

-CS-

Three and a half hours later Emma and Killian's project was nearly complete, and so they decided to call it a night. Killian had insisted on walking her home since it was 'ridiculously late, and he wasn't raised to let a lady walk home in the dark'. For one Emma could most definitely handle herself and secondly it was only 7 o'clock, so there was really no danger in her going home alone;but Killian had insisted saying it would be 'bad form' not to.

When they finally arrived at Emma's house he insisted on walking her right up to the door. Emma had to give him credit, for an arrogant guy he had a pretty good set of manners. The two stood awkwardly by the door in silence. Just as Emma was pretty sure that the silence would kill them both Killian spoke "I don't mean to upset you, Emma, but I think we make quite the team."

Emma smiled "that we do."

Killian looked like he wanted to say more but finally settled on "I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Emma found herself surprised at the truth in her statement when she said "I'll be looking forward to it". With a quick wave she dashed inside her house with her heart pounding in her chest. It had taken less than a day and Killian Jones the notorious trouble maker had wormed his way into her heart. So much for not being the stereotypical female book protagonist.


	9. Immortal

**Immortal**

 **Author's Note: This is a Soulmate AU telling the story of the many times the immortal Killian Jones got to meet his soulmate. Also a Reincarnation AU. Trigger warning of violent mugging in the fifth time Killian meets Emma. It's not super graphic but I wanted to make sure that it was tagged just in case. I'll also mark off the warning before and after it in bold. As an additional note if I'm ever not tagging something that you need tagged please let me know via either a review or by private message. Your well being is infinitely more important than the few minutes it would take me to tag something.**

Killian Jones was immortal. When he had been trying to seek vengeance against the crocodile, immortality seemed like a great idea. It gives you all the time necessary to defeat your enemies. So when a witch had asked if Killian had wanted to be immortal he leapt at the chance. The thing they don't tell you about immortality is that it also means everyone you know and love growing old and dying around you, without any means of stopping it. There was one benefit though, he was granted the gift of being able to meet the brilliant Emma Swan over and over again. Killian was only sometimes able to find her blonde curls bouncing through time. Sometimes he would go almost a century without another Emma sighting, and just when he had given up hope she fell right back into his life. Sometimes he would be lucky and get to spend decades with her, sometimes; however, he would only get to experience mere minutes with his Swan before she disappeared again.

-CS-

The first time Killian met Emma was in the early Victorian Era. It had started raining without any warning. Luckily another perk of being immortal is you tend to develop a sense for the weather, and so Killian had been prepared with an umbrella. He was feeling rather melancholic as he watched the people hustle and bustle through the streets. They were so alive, and yes he was alive but not quite in the same way as them. They possessed a certain vigour that he had long since lost. People all around him ran for the shelter of shops, except for one young lady with bright blonde curls piled atop her head. She had obviously decided that wherever her destination might be was far more important than a sprinkling of rain. Killian couldn't help but watch her make her way down the street. Speeding through the rain with a smile cracking her face she looked so much more alive than Killian had felt in centuries. He made a snap judgement and decided to intercept her.

"Hello, I'm Killian Jones might I offer you my umbrella." he asked with a gentlemanly bow.

The woman smiled sheepishly. It had been awhile since Killian had really communicated to people, so he hoped he hadn't scared her off. She spoke "I could not take your umbrella, that would leave you to be soaked in the rain". Killian found himself committing the beauty of this woman's voice to memory. The human brain isn't meant to handle immortality and so you can't remember everything, but Killian knew he would never forget the voice of this woman.

"If you would prefer milady, I can walk you to your location" Killian offered.

The woman laughed slightly "you needn't call me milady, Emma Swan will do just fine". Killian offered her his arm and escorted her down the street.

The next decade and a half was the happiest Killian had been in a long time, but sadly all good things must come to an end, and at the age of 36 Emma Swan passed due to illness leaving Killian Jones alone once again.

-CS-

The second time Killian Jones had met Emma Swan she was a mere child. It had been nearly thirty years since his beloved had passed away. And so when he strolled through the park he was more than shocked to see the same blonde hair and green eyes on the face of a child. The girl was sitting in the grass talking intently to a boy with dark hair. There was simply no way this girl could be Emma, but yet her smile was the same. Killian's internal monologue was interrupted by the young boy speaking "Emma when we are both grown up will you marry me?".

Emma smiled "of course I will Neal".

And so ten years late when Killian saw a small notice in the paper congratulating the marriage between Neal and Emma (nee Swan) Cassidy he was glad to see that she was happy.

-CS-

 **Trigger warning begins here**

He didn't particularly like to think about the fifth time he met Ms. Swan. It was the 1970's and it had been nearly half a century since his last Emma sighting. Killian's heart had hardened to all of the needless death around him and he had decided to join the Alexandria Plan, a group of emergency service providers who were attempting to save lives. Killian found himself in the United States of America for the first time, looking for a fresh start as an EMT in an ambulance. The call had come late at night and slightly sleep deprived he found himself barreling through the night to a patient who had apparently been attacked in a mugging. When he arrived on the scene he rushed to the patient's side and felt a knife of anguish twist in his gut. He would recognize that blonde hair and green eyes anywhere. He knew she was losing far too much blood for his efforts to make a difference but that didn't stop him. Her eyes were clouded in pain and her breathing was relatively shallow. He did all he could to stanch the blood flow but there was nothing to be done. In her last few moments her eyes cleared slightly and she breathed out "Killian". He held her hands as she passed. Fate could be quite the strumpet sometimes.

 **Trigger warning ends here**

Killian realized that he had never mentioned his name, and that somehow she had remembered him. In her previous lives Emma had never mentioned remembering him and she never recognized him. Perhaps her death had somehow helped her to remember it.

Later when he discovered her death had not been random, but rather was organized by Rumpelstiltskin it had nearly destroyed him. He vowed that it was time to finally track down and eliminate the Crocodile once and for all. The dark tentacles of vengeance that had disappeared in her presence once again wound their way around his heart.

-CS-

The next time Killian met Emma he was determined to seek revenge on the Crocodile. He finally had a lead and he was determined to eliminate his enemy. He was impersonating a blacksmith under Cora's orders. The moment Emma saw him she wrapped her arms around him while shouting his name. Somehow she remembered her past lives. He felt the tendrils of darkness that had clouded his heart in her absence begin to recede. Having her back was all that he needed to feel sane again. For the first time in a long time Killian felt alive, he felt younger than the several centuries he was. He knew he was supposed to betray the group of people so that Cora could help him seek his revenge, but his desire faded while looking in her eyes. And so began another life between the ex-pirate Captain and the blonde haired princess.


	10. Jolly Roger

**Jolly Roger**

 **This is to fill in a long overdue review left by a guest requesting that J have something to do with the Jolly Roger. Hopefully you enjoy my interpretation of those words. As always feel free to drop a review of what you would like to see for a future letter or what you thought of this chapter.**

Killian Jones' home was for all intents and purposes the Jolly Roger. He lived at sea with his crew and traveled by the wind that rippled across their sails. Captain Hook had literally resided upon the boat for centuries, waking up to the smell of salt and going to bed with the stars watching over him. He did spend time ashore every once and awhile, but he never felt as quite at home as he did on his vessel. Granted his home might have been a little unconventional, but so was his career path as a former Lieutenant turned pirate was more than a little unusual. Whenever the pain of losing Milah became too strong he would stay out even later under the stars. Somehow their infinite expanse calmed him.

He never needed to use the North Star to guide his way home as he knew the ship like the back of his proverbial hand. He knew the most infinitesimal details from the wooden grain of the mast, to the planks of the hull that his crew were most prone to hiding contraband behind.

Killian fully intended to someday go down with his ship like the Captain he was, but then he met a blonde who turned his entire world upside down. Suddenly he found himself spending less time on his ship and more time with the confounded lass who was preventing him from finally achieving his revenge. Still he couldn't bring himself to hate Emma, in fact he couldn't even really bring himself to dislike her. She was as passionate as the mid-ocean storms and as constant as his ship. Emma was hardened by her past and her life had been tempest tossed by cruel circumstances, yet she was still standing, unsunken by the waves of her existence, and Killian found himself admiring her for it.

Getting to know her was more challenging then some of his most dangerously stormy nights at sea. And breaking down her walls wasn't really the right word, it was more like slowly wearing them down. It was like how a small stream can eventually burrow through a mountain given time an effort. She gave him something to live for, beyond the revenge that had been fueling his existence.

-CS-

Emma was never the kind of person to ask Killian to give up his ship for her. Which was exactly why he had to do it. He had to get back to her because although the Jolly Roger had once been his place of comfort he had found a new home in her, and he was not ever going to let her go. And so when she asked if he had traded his ship for her the answer was a simple "Aye". Killian Jones was still a pirate Captain at heart and he could still tell you the grain of the mast and the planks that needed to be checked for contraband, but he could also tell you stories of his favourite Emma Swan smiles and the way that her eyes lit up with a mischievous glint whenever they went on an adventure. He could spin sailor's yarns about her hair, and to him kissing her felt like coming home. After centuries of obsessing over revenge on his pirate ship Killian had finally moved on and found the home that he would stay with for the rest of his days.


	11. Kindred Spirits

**Kindred Spirits**

 **Author's Note: Thanks so much to all of you lovely people who took the time to fave, follow, and review.** **I can't believe that there are so many of you who have decided to follow along with my weekly random musings. As a thank you I decided to release this chapter early.**

They say love finds you when you least expect it. When you've barred the doors to your heart and declared that no one will ever enter. That's when you find the one. That's how it happened for Emma Swan at least. One too many heartbreaks had led her to swearing off love altogether. And then she met him, her kindred spirit, the man whose past contained just as much troubles as her own. And she fell for him hard and fast, and he made her believe that maybe love could be good again.

There were other things that made them kindred spirits. They both had a soft spot for leather, Emma with her red leather coat and Killian with his full leather regalia. They've both felt the darkness curl around their hearts and squeeze tight. Furthermore the fire of adventure burns equally through both of their hearts.

If anyone told Killian Jones he would find someone he loved after Milah, he would have called them insane. After all a vengeful pirate isn't the type to find love twice, let alone find his true love. He was a villain, and villains never get their happy endings. So when a disguised Killian was pulled from the pile of bodies his breath was stolen by the angelic face of a beautiful blonde. He fell for her even before she could leave him at the top of the beanstalk.

Together they could heal their brokenness. Love makes you want to be a better person, and so the villainous pirate changed his metaphorical spots and the Saviour who had walls as thick as continents slowly opened up. Their pasts became the past, although it was still a part of both of them it was no longer something that they dwelled on.

But most of all they were both kindred spirits because they deserved a happy ending even if they didn't believe it. No matter how broken a person one may be or how little they may believe it, they are always deserving of happiness.

-CS-

And so it was no surprise to the town when the two announced their engagement. The two badly broken hearts had found each other and they never intended to let go. When Emma smiled Killian felt like writing her a sonnet and when Killian laughed Emma felt like she needed to record the sound in her heart for posterity. The engagement party had been a simple affair, despite Mary Margaret's not so subtle suggestions that they should invite everyone in the town. The ring had once belonged to Liam and Killian knew that there was no one he would rather have wear it. He had sailed the seas for centuries and never found anyone who came anywhere near close to Emma in his heart. True he loved Milah with all his heart, but his feelings for Emma were somehow different. He could love two people infinitely but in completely different ways. Loving Milah had been like loving the moon, and loving Emma was like loving the sun. Both were extremely strong willed women but beyond that they couldn't have been more different than night and day. Milah had given up her son to escape her husband and chase after adventure whereas Emma had given hers up in hopes that he would have a better life. Milah always intended to go back for Baelfire though. Emma would do anything for her family much like Killian would have done anything he could to bring Liam back.

With the ring on her finger Emma and Killian waltzed the night away. For only having one hand the man was a surprisingly talented dancer. Killian loved how beautiful his fiancée looked dancing in the starlight with her hair lit up as if it possessed a golden halo. As the night wore on guests slowly trickled out until it was just he and Emma dancing alone on his ship. The music had ceased to play so they waltzed gracefully to the beat of an unheard melody. He leaned in and kissed her hoping to transmit all of the love he felt for his bride-to-be. Their lips separated and they rested each others foreheads on one another's. She smiled wide and whispered "I love you too".

-CS-

It is said that once two kindred spirits find each other they will never part. This was the case of Emma Swan and Killian Jones. No matter the villain that strolled into the town or the domestic disputes they faced, they could overcome anything so long as they had the other at their side.


	12. Letting Go

**Letting Go**

 **Author's Note: I seemed to be in a bit of melancholic mood when I wrote this. Trigger warning for established character death. To be fair I did warn that this alphabet might contain some angst.**

"The ones who love us never truly leave us" said the minister at the front of the chapel. Emma gazed down at the black lace of her skirt, letting her hair fall to shield her eyes. She knew it wasn't his fault, if he had a choice he never would have left her. But that didn't stop the tracks of tears from sliding down her face. Killian her one chance at true love was gone, and there was nothing she could do. There were only so many times one could come back from the dead. Henry squeezed her hand consolingly beside her. Emma couldn't believe that she would never see her pirate's teasing smirk ever again or hear the lilting candescence of his voice. He was gone and Emma needed to get used to saying that. Used to changing out the word _is_ for _was_. She needed to get used to the empty space beside her when she woke in the mornings that use to be filled with warmth and was now vacant and cold.

As a rule Emma Swan tried to avoid crying in front of people, after all crying in the foster system was often seen as weakness, and from some of her less kind guardians weakness was a sign that she could be hurt. But now sitting at his funeral she couldn't stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks and falling to make damp spots on her skirt. Emma wanted to listen to the minister, she really did, but the pain of accepting the fact that he wouldn't sidle up next to her at any moment with one of his brilliant one liners was far too great.

Emma Swan had lost far too many people in her life, she was abandoned by her parents (albeit for a very good reason), left by Neal (although his intentions were good), was forced to watch Graham die in front of her, she even lost Walsh. And here she was once again burying someone she loved and cared about, reinforcing the lesson she had learned in childhood; everyone you love leaves.

Emma shook the thoughts from her head. Killian wouldn't want her to think that way. He would want her to be happy after all his last words had been "Don't let the darkness colour your heart like Milah's death did to me. Find someone who makes you happy. Please. Please do that for me". Emma had already cycled through denial of his death. She had been angry, her mugs in the apartment they shared had bared the brunt of it. The smashed chinaware had not stifled her anger, rather it had only temporarily lessened it. Emma would say she was somewhere between the stage of bargaining and depression. She would have done anything to bring him back, but it was impossible and she knew it. She could feel it in her chest that he was gone for good.

With tears gliding across her cheeks Emma stood to speak the eulogy, after all she was the closest thing to family that Killian had. She had tried sitting down to write something so many times but all she ended up with were snapped pencils and many, _many_ balls of crumpled up paper overfilling her trash can. She decided that whatever she said should be from the heart, and that the easiest way to do so would be to wing it. Emma spread her palms across the pulpit and braced her hands to help support her body. She was a strong person, but just standing there in front of all those people made her feel like she might break.

She opened her mouth to speak but she merely floundered looking for the words to say. Emma took a deep breath and centred herself. In that moment the words came to her "If a few years ago you told me I would be giving the eulogy for Captain Hook, I would have called you insane". Her words elicited a few chuckles from the sullen crowd. She continued "A few months ago I never believed I would be giving the eulogy of Killian Jones, at least not so soon". Emma felt another tear slide warmly down her cheek "Killian Jones saw himself as a villain, but he was the most heroic man that I have ever met". She gazed out at the weeping faces and felt a bit of peace cross over her "heroes are not completely free of darkness, rather they look darkness in the face and battle against it". She felt the need to wrap things up before she fell apart "Killian Jones was not a perfect man, heck no one is perfect. But he was perfect for me. And I'm glad that in the few centuries of his existence he managed to cross realms and for a brief instant of time we met up". She took a brief inhale while she selected the final words "Someday Killian we will meet again, but until that point I know you will be sailing amongst the stars".

-CS-

Somewhere in the infinite cosmos a pirate shed a tear and whispered "until we meet again".


	13. Marriage

**Marriage**

 **Author's Note: This fic is inspired by Taylor Swift's song Speak Now. It is by no means necessary to listen to the song in order to understand the fic, but if you are interested in where my inspiration came from feel free to give it a listen.**

Emma had done it. She had said yes when he had asked and Henry had been absolutely ecstatic. Snow had practically jumped for joy when they told her. David on the other hand immediately went into overprotective Dad mode and eventually relented. Mary Margaret jumped immediately into planning mode to plan the royal wedding. She had missed Emma's first ball and she intended to make up for it by planning her the most extravagant wedding possible. Emma didn't really care about a big celebration; but it made her Mom happy and most importantly it made Henry happy. The kid was a big believer in happy endings and nothing was quite as Fairytale as having a ginormous celebration.

-CS-

And so that's how Emma ended up in a cupcake wedding dress about to marry him. She had a ridiculously long veil that trailed along behind her. Her parents approved of the marriage and everything was perfect from the music the orchestra played to the hors d'oeuvres being served before the ceremony began.

Well that's not true everything was perfect except for one thing, one thing that Emma tried to tell herself was okay. Despite it being her wedding day she wasn't happy, instead of standing in front of a man with piercing blue eyes and dark disheveled hair she was facing a brunette with brown eyes. Emma wanted more than anything for Henry to be happy and having a united family made him that way.

She turned her eyes to face the crowd and was once again disappointed that she didn't spot those stormy blue eyes. Emma had given Killian an invitation but he obviously decided not to come. Admittedly Emma couldn't really blame him, if the roles were reversed and he was marrying someone else she knew she wouldn't attend. It was probably best for the both of them anyways, besides Emma wouldn't even know how to react if he did show up. Still a part of her wanted nothing more than to see those blue eyes out in the crowd.

For that matter she hadn't even seen him since she got engaged to Neal a week ago (Mary Margaret plans things fast). Emma tried to refocus on the words the minister was saying, after all one should remember their own wedding and whatnot. She smiled at her husband to be, just because she didn't love him now didn't mean she couldn't in the future. At one point all she ever wanted was to find Tallahassee with Neal. But that wasn't what she wanted anymore, even now staring into her grooms eyes all she could think about was how she wished they were blue instead.

Emma mentally shook her head, Henry wanted this, what better ending for a kid who loves Fairytales than his parents finding each other again after years and reconnecting. After all as the Charmings always said 'I will always find you', and she had finally found him back. She just wished she had never had to find him back in the first place. Emma knew that Neal didn't know she was pregnant at the time, but she still hadn't quite forgiven him for letting her go to jail all those years ago.

Although he was a thief Emma knew he was a stand-up guy and had he known she was carrying his child he probably would never have abandoned her. That being said she could never quite know for sure that he still wouldn't have. 'This is ridiculous' Emma thought to herself as she cleared her head of all her worries and refocused on the ceremony. She had to hand it to Mary Margaret, she was excellent at planning weddings. In another life she could have been a wedding planner. Perhaps if Storybrooke got cursed again her Mom might become one.

The ministers voice continued to warble in the background. The voice spoke out "If anyone has a reason why these two should not be wed speak now or forever hold your peace". Emma knew it was awful of her to think that way but she couldn't help holding her breath and hoping her knight in shining leather would burst through the church doors. Emma's chest fell as the moment passed interrupted, when suddenly a loud "Oi" could be heard from outside the main chapel. Emma felt a smile break across her face as the man with disheveled dark hair ran into the building.

He smirked "apologies for being late lass, I'm usually one for punctuality". Emma's heart leapt in her chest, she hadn't seriously expected him to show up. Still Emma wanted her son to be happy more than anything else in the world, even more than her own happiness.

Henry stood and asked quietly "do you love Killian?"

Emma was silent for a few moments before whispering out a quiet "yes".

Henry smiled sadly "Mom I want you to be happy and Killian makes you happier than I've ever seen you".

"But kid" Emma began.

Henry cut her off "I'm happiest when you are happy. I don't need some perfectly idyllic family. Heck have you seen our family tree lately, it's anything but perfect or normal". Henry turned then to look at Baelfire "Dad I still want you in my life, but just not with my mom. You are a great guy, but her smile is never quite as bright as it is around Killian".

Neal nodded slowly "Killian you better treat her right, and if I ever hear of you ever making her cry again, trust that I will do everything in my power to kill you. And I am the son of the dark one so trust that I can make good on that promise". Emma was suddenly aware of the tears of joy streaming silently down her face. Her pirate offered her his arm apprehensively. After a beat she took it and together they ran out of the church with her veil and dress flying out behind her in the wind. Running with him Emma felt more happy than she did during the entire wedding process.

 **Author's Note: At this point I've written the standard wedding fic so many times that I felt like changing it up again, plus Taylor Swift's song kind of poisoned the idea of a happy wedding fic. And yes I'm aware that the whole objection question doesn't even occur in actual weddings but is more a rom com thing. I also wanted to show Neal in a more positive light than in my earlier work. If you enjoyed this feel free to leave a review.**


	14. Neighbour AU

**Author's Note: Apologies as my muse kind of ran away on me and turned into something unexpected, but I guess that's what happens when you use a single word as inspiration. I had to throw in some petulantly jealous Killian because I couldn't help it, plus I thought it would be a good choice since next weeks fic is majorly angsty, so this is sort of my way of apologizing ahead of time with fluff. Since summer break is coming up in the next couple weeks I hope to be able to update twice a week instead of just once a week but I make no promises. If you've been following this so far you are already aware that I have no real set schedule.**

 **Neighbour AU**

Killian didn't know what he did in a past life, but he supposed it must have been pretty freaking amazing in order for him to be granted the gift of being the neighbour to Emma Swan. From the first moment he saw her helping to carry in her family's boxes to the house beside his he was in love. At the time she had been laughing at something her father had said. Killian was only eight when his heart had been stolen by the girl next door and her melodious laugh.

It's been ten years since Emma moved in next door and the two have become quite close, just not necessarily in the way he had hoped. He and Emma were close friends now and Killian looked forward to their weekly Netflix movie nights. He had been her date to prom after Neal had left her in the lurch a month before the date. Killian had never really cared for Neal, but to be fair he acknowledged that his dislike of him might have been _slightly_ related to his jealousy. Neal hadn't particularly been a fan of Killian either, as he had never appreciated his girlfriend's best friend being a guy, much less one who was as flirty as Killian. Emma had never told Killian why she and Neal had broken up, and he wasn't going to press her for the info; but whatever the reason was it clearly didn't end on very friendly terms.

-CS-

Now it was the summer time and Killian was laying on his bed reading a copy of The Tempest. A ball of paper sailed through the air and landed on his book. He uncrumpled the ball and read "Can I pop over?" scrawled in Emma's narrow handwriting. Killian grabbed the pen he kept on his desk for this very purpose and wrote "of course lass" before recrumpling the paper and throwing it out his bedroom window. With the amount of times he and Emma had passed notes like this he no longer even needed to look out the window in order to get it into her window.

He heard the thumping noise of her jumping out her window onto the roof and the quick shuffle as she made her way to his roof. He looked up from his book just in time to see her pull herself up into his window. He watched her secretly over the top of his book as she walked and fell backwards with a flourish onto his bed. He put his book down and turned to face her. Killian couldn't help the small smile from quirking up the corners of his lips. She was absolutely stunning, even with her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail. Moments like this where it was just she and him made it hard not to shout out "I love Emma Swan" to the heavens. She gave his chest a playful shove, making Killian realize he had been staring for slightly too long for people who were supposed to be just friends.

"Movie?" she asked, already aware of what he would answer. He nodded his head yes and Emma reached her arm across his chest to grab the remote off his bedside table. Killian felt a slight warmth spread from where her arm brushed his chest. Sometimes being her friend was ridiculously torturous. That being said he had long since decided that he would rather be her friend than nothing at all, and so he wasn't going to confess his feelings to her anytime soon. What he had with Emma was great and he certainly wasn't going to risk losing their friendship. That being said there were still times when he felt like throwing his arms up and lifting her into the air while kissing her.

Emma flicked on the television and opened up Netflix. It was Emma's turn to pick the movie which meant it was essentially Killian's pick. Years ago Emma had realized that whenever it was Killian's movie night pick he would select something he had thought she would enjoy. Ever since then Emma has been using her movie night choice to pick a movie she thought he would like. Emma scrolled through the shows before making her selection "I know it's technically not a movie but it's almost movie length" she said as she put on the Doctor Who episode Blink. Killian wasn't afraid of a lot of things but he could safely say that the weeping angels were one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen. Emma stood and shut off the lights, because there was no better way to experience the horrors of the weeping angels than in the pitch dark. She laid back down and rested her head on his shoulder. Killian allowed himself one discreet sniff of her hair before focusing on the show.

-CS-

With the show over the two decided to go to Storybrooke's one and only ice-cream parlour. The duo sat down at the booth in the corner and split the sundae Killian had purchased. Emma had insisted on helping pay for it but Killian had out right refused saying that her smile was all the payment he could ever need. The two sat in relative silence, the clinking of the spoons against the bowl and the music flowing out of the stereo were the only noises that could be heard. Emma and Killian both enjoyed their shared moments of silence. The two had known each other so long that words were no longer necessary. Suddenly Emma burst out giggling. Killian immediately flushed tomato red as he asked her "what's so funny?"

In between giggles Emma managed to spit out "you have whipped cream all over your nose". Killian tried to salvage what little remained of his dignity by wiping his face with napkins.

"Better?" he asked while raising one of his eyebrows.

This just made Emma chuckle harder as she said "you've made it worse. It's everywhere now". Killian went to reach for the napkins but she beat him to it and grabbed the napkins. With a quick flick of her wrist she wiped his nose and she smiled saying "better now". "What would you do without me?" Emma asked jokingly.

"Probably go insane" Killian said with a slightly embarrassed chuckle. He scratched the back of his neck unconsciously.

The bell to the store chimed and the two looked to see who entered. Storybrooke was a relatively small town so they knew the name of almost everyone who lived there. The pair were rather shocked when they saw Neal's face. Since Emma and Neal had broken up not so amicably they had generally avoided places that they were bound to run into each other. The ice-cream shoppe had always been Emma and Killian's hang out spot because in Emma's words 'you can never be too old for a sundae'. Neal greeted them rather cooly with a slight nod "Killian. Emma".

Emma pulled a slightly forced smile "Neal, it's great to see you". She then gave Killian a quick elbow to the ribs.

"Oh right" Killian started "I'm _soooo_ glad to see you". Killian knew he was being a bit bratty but by the same token he could tell Emma really didn't want him around, and he'd do anything even fight a bear if it would make her more comfortable. Neal merely sighed and ordered his cone. He was gone with his ice-cream after a few moments of awkward silence. Killian was pretty sure the cashier had made the cone extra quick just to rid the establishment of the uncomfortable frosty atmosphere. Even after Neal's departure the awkward silence enveloped the shop.

-CS-

Emma sat in silence mulling the words she wanted to say over in her head. She knew that what she wanted to say might fundamentally alter her relationship with Killian, but she decided it was time he knew. She had been contemplating explaining her breakup with Neal for awhile now and his sudden appearance seemed to be a sign to take the plunge. Emma broke the silence "Neal and I broke up". She stopped talking deciding that perhaps this conversation wasn't such a great idea.

"Yes" Killian raised his eyebrows "I'm well aware of this fact". Emma knew that if she wanted to drop the topic Killian wouldn't push her, but really it was only fair that he knew.

"Neal and I broke up because he gave me an ultimatum" Emma paused again.

Killian looked very confused at the segue in the conversation. "An ultimatum?" he asked.

"Yes" Emma continued "he gave me a choice; my relationship with him or my friendship with you".

-CS-

Killian's brain felt like it was malfunctioning. Emma picked him over her relationship with Neal. Killian was pretty sure a ridiculous grin must have spread across his face as he said "Oh".

"Don't oh me" Emma said while rolling her eyes "of course I picked you. You are one of the most important people in my life". Killian knew Emma was saying all of this in a just friends kind of way but still the idea of him being one of her most important people made him ecstatic. Killian had always known he was important to Emma, but it was one thing for him to know it and another thing entirely for her to say it. She was never an overly affectionate person and getting to know her involved breaking down quite a few walls. His smile must have converted into a smirk because she gave him a playful shove. "As if you needed a bigger head" Emma said with a smile while rolling her eyes.

"For the record, I would also choose you over Neal" Killian said jokingly. The glare Killian received was enough to chill the most hardened sailor to the bone. "No but seriously, you come first. Always." Killian said bringing an end to the joking mood. He brought his hand up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Emma's smile faded from her face along with all of the colour. Killian mentally swore at himself, saying something like that to Emma Swan was akin to holding up a sign with the word run written in red block letters. She bit her lip in silence for a few moments.

"I'd choose you too. Always" Emma said so quietly that Killian almost thought he imagined it. If Killian's mind was malfunctioning before, then all the mini Killian's in his head who filed away his thoughts were running amuck tossing files into the air.

"Ok. Don't say anything. Let's just make this silence as awkward as possible" Emma rambled on and on as her face pinked in embarrassment. She ducked her head in order to hide her growing blush. Killian lifted up her chin delicately so he could look into her face. It was odd that Emma appeared so embarrassed over something so obvious as her appreciating his presence, unless her statements was meant to be more than that. Her face burned even brighter under his gaze.

He decided since Emma had been a bit vulnerable he could do the same. "Emma" he began "I really care for you. Probably more than I should as merely your neighbour slash best friend. No wait. Let me change that I definitely care about you more than I should, and I have for awhile." Emma sat silently as he continued speaking "You don't have to say anything, nor do you have to feel the same way, but I just thought that you had the right to know". He removed his hand from Emma's cheek and began to lean back. His movements were halted by her bringing up her hand to ghost over his cheeks. She took a breath to steady herself and ever so slowly leaned in. Killian froze in place not wanting to move in case Emma decided against her actions.

She kissed him, and it was far better than Killian had ever thought it would be. He was pretty sure he could never get enough. Killian felt like he could sit there forever, kissing her, and he probably would have if it wasn't for the rather awkward cough that sounded from the ice-cream worker. The two came to their senses and realized they were in public. Emma pulled away first and Killian looked down a blush reddening his cheeks. He scratched his neck in slight embarrassment. Emma stood and took his hand, interlacing their fingers together gently. "Time to go home" Emma said with a slightly nervous smile.

Killian stood and replied "my home is already right here".

Emma rolled her eyes "I can't believe you are so ridiculously cheesy".

"Oh you love it" he said in rebuttal.

"That I do" she said as they left the parlour.


	15. Operation

**Author's Note: I did warn that this update would be pretty feelsy. Trigger warning for depression and losing a love one. I promise that although it starts out pretty rough it ends pretty cheerfully. Feel free to drop a review and let me know what you want to see next be it feels or fluff.**

 **Operation**

Technically Killian shouldn't even be in the room listening to the rhythmic beating of the machine monitoring Emma's heart rate. He wasn't married to her so he had no legal rights as far as the hospital was concerned, but Storybrooke was a little unique and so they were willing to make an exception for him. It might have helped that he threatened to get a bit creative with his hook if Dr. Whale didn't let him in the room. Killian sighed into the room. He didn't deserve to be in here with her, after all it was completely his fault that landed her here in the hospital. Killian should have learned by now that villains, even former ones don't get happy endings. Being around Emma had put her in danger numerous times, and now here she was laying in a hospital bed. It looked wrong, his Emma who was usually so stubborn and full of life looked small and weak. She looked so fragile, like even a gust of wind from the small window could break her. The silence was getting to Killian, as it was only **interrupted** by the intermittent beeps of the machine. Without those machines breathing for her, she wouldn't even be here right now. Killian found himself once again being thankful for modern conveniences that were keeping her safe.

It was his fault that she was like this, all small and broken. She was no longer the strong force of nature he was used to. He had reduced her to her current state. If he had been more careful, if he had been doing a better job she would still be okay. Maybe they would be sitting on her couch watching something on the mystical talking picture box, instead she was laying unconscious in a hospital bed. Dr. Whale said it didn't look overly hopeful, he couldn't say when or even if she would ever wake up.

Killian had experienced self loathing before, but never quite as strong as he did now. It should be him laying in the bed broken and unconscious, not his beautiful Swan. He was stupid. He had a single lapse in awareness and suddenly his princess was lying on the ground in front of him with a dagger jabbed into her chest. He remembered blinking and standing still for a few moments as his mind caught up to what he was seeing. The throwing dagger had been meant for him, he didn't even see it flying his way but he remembered hearing a panicked "look out", and then the thump as the knife hit flesh. Emma had taken the dagger for him. The saviour had saved him, but only at the cost of her own life. Well she wasn't dead yet, just in some horrific mid plane where she was neither truly alive or truly dead, kind of like Schrödinger's cat. Technically she was alive, but in practicality the swan he knew was dead, replaced with this cold empty body. When he reached out to hold her hand the usual warmth he felt was gone, and it was all his fault. He had ruined everything. He was a pirate for so many years and so the universe was once again reminding him that villains, even reformed ones, don't get happy endings.

Killian broke down no longer able to stop the sobs from wracking his body. His body slumped forward and his face rested on the hand of his Swan. He watched unable to stop as tear after tear dripped down onto her hand. He couldn't stop the choked sobs from ripping out of his throat. He was the reason she was here like this, and that absolutely killed him. She didn't deserve to die for him, and he didn't deserve someone who loved him enough to die for him. He was a wretched excuse for a human being, and he always would be.

He realized that getting her hand wet probably wasn't the greatest ideas since her body was already deathly cold and shifted his face to rest on the bed. The bed spread muffled his sobs slightly, but he was sure that anyone in the room next door could probably hear his cries. He didn't know how long he had sat there weeping but his tears had mostly dried and then he fell asleep, still sitting there in her hospital room.

-CS-

Hours later Killian awoke with a start. He had had the most horrific of nightmares, his stubborn Swan had been injured gravely. And then Killian looked up and realized it hadn't been a nightmare but instead was his reality. This started another brief wave of sobs as Killian once again rested his forehead on the bed spread. They were bitter tears because he knew deep down it was his fault. Emma would have said she made the choice willingly, but Killian knew that if it wasn't for his carelessness she wouldn't have had to make the choice.

Something or someone began stroking Killian's hair soothingly. It felt nice to have someone's fingers run through his hair comfortingly. He looked up expecting to see Snow behind him only to discover that the arm was Emma's. He was staring into the forest green eyes of the person he loved most in the world. At this point Killian was pretty sure that the grief had shattered his remaining sanity until she finally spoke "I'm okay Killian, really I'm okay". She continued her ministrations of his hair as the tears began to streak more rapidly down his face. This time they were tears of joy, she was okay and that was all that he needed. Her hand was still cold but it was starting to heat up a bit more. At that moment a flurry of doctors and nurses entered the room, clearly having been alerted to Emma's conscious state. Although he hated to admit it, he was most definitely in their way and so Killian stood to leave. Suddenly his wrist was gripped with a surprising amount of force. Killian looked down and followed the path through his arm to Emma's. "Stay" she whispered. So he sat down and stayed with her while the doctors ran their tests. He never intended on letting his Swan go again.


	16. Princesses and Pirates

**Princesses and Pirates**

 **Author's Note: I apologize for the slightly extended hiatus especially after I posted that I would try and post twice a week but I had some personal things come up and kind of lost the desire to write. I'm back now and will attempt to at least post once a week.**

Killian Jones never thought he would be the kind of guy to settle down and have kids of his own, but all that changed when he met the glorious force that was Emma Swan. He quickly learned that she had a son of her own and over time Henry became his too. Not all family is by birth, some is by choice and Killian chose to be in Henry's life. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to.

Killian loved Henry as if he was his own, but he also wanted to add to their little family providing of course that Emma wanted to as well. Imagine Killian's enthusiasm when he and his Swan were going to bring not one but two bundles of joy into the world.

-CS-

Pregnant Emma was hilarious to be around, her already usual stubborn personality was cranked to eleven. Killian didn't mind though, because he knew that carrying not one, but two babies was not an easy feat. By the time the twins were born Killian was sure he had gone through every baby book Storybrooke had to offer. When Buttercup and Liam were born Killian was sure it was the happiest day of his entire life.

-CS-

By the time the twins were five they had developed their own distinctive personalities. Liam was five minutes older than his sister and would never let her forget it. Buttercup had her mother's blonde tresses and her father's stormy eyes; whereas Liam was the exact opposite with his father's dark tangled locks and his mother's forest green eyes. No matter how often the two would disagree they could always agree on playing Princesses and Pirates. Their father was always more than willing to participate in their game as he loved spending time with his little Princess and Pirate. While the twins would imagine themselves sailing the seven magical seas their father would look on with delight. He would make the noises of the sea creating the outside of their boat and would occasionally play the part of the sea monster that they needed to vanquish. Whenever they would finish their games the family would retire with cups of hot chocolate with cinnamon.

Killian ruffled his daughters blonde hair as she sat on his lap. "How is my favourite little princess" he asked.

She smiled up at him "girls can be pirates too, dad".

Killian chuckled "that they can sweetheart. In fact I once told your mother that she would make an excellent pirate".

"Really?" Liam asked incredulously.

"Really" Killian replied. His children looked at him with eyes wide with wonder as they waited for him to continue his story. Pirates were well known for telling tall tales of adventure, but his love story with Emma needed no embellishments or falsehoods to be an epic tale. After letting the children settle into a comfortable position he launched into another tale of his life with Emma.

-CS-

As always the tale ended with Killian and Emma carrying their now sleeping children up to their rooms and kissing them goodnight. How Killian Jones became the luckiest man in the world to have such a fantastic family he would never know.


	17. Question

**Question**

 **Author's Note: We've hit the twenty thousand word mark with this story. Thanks so much to all of you who have stuck along this long, and thanks to all of you who have chosen to read this work. Thanks goes out to all of you who have reviewed, favourited, and followed. All of those encouragements keeps me writing. Special thanks goes out to 3 guests, CaptainSwanFan, Twilightroxas7, Emilee-Amethyst, and nix-mixx-94 for being kind enough to leave a review.**

Emma had her head resting on her pirates chest. His hand stroked its way lovingly through her hair. "Do you love me?" she asked him.

"Of course" Killian replied. The smirk on his face was evident. "What brought this on?" He asked her curiously. He paused his hands actions in its path through her hair. She rotated her chest so that she was now turned to have her face looking up at his. He looked at her like she was his whole world, and really she was. Before Emma, Killian had been a pirate whose sole purpose was to seek vengeance and now he had found a family in the Charmings and a person with which to spend the rest of his life with in Emma. Emma had given him a family which is something he had seriously missed in the last couple centuries of his life. She made him want to be a better person. He would happily go to the end of the world or time for her, and he had certainly done both.

"Nothing" she said with a slight smile "I just wanted to confirm what I already know".

Killian rolled his eyes sarcastically "Someone is a little cocky". Emma gently shrugged her shoulders. He loved the mischievous expression that crossed her face. He stared at her for a few moments before the silence in the room was broken by the voice of his beloved.

"Marry me" she said the mischievous look replaced with a far more serious one. Killian's always expressive eyebrows shot up his face is surprise. The few moments of silence that followed were only punctuated by Killian's intermittent blinking.

"Sorry?" he said almost like a question.

"Marry me" she repeated her earlier statement. "Only if you want to, of course" she amended. Killian's mind raced at a mile a minute. Emma was always great at getting the drop on him.

He rubbed his face slightly exasperatedly while reaching into his pocket. "I suppose this is rather redundant now but..." he trailed off while pulling the small box out. "I will marry you. But will you marry me?" he asked her back.

She smirked "I'm pretty sure my answer was evident by the whole me asking you part".

Killian returned her smirk "Firstly, it's not my fault that you beat me to the punch and secondly you didn't ask me so much as you told me to marry you".

Emma waved her hand dismissively "Details. Details. I knew you were going to say yes anyways". The two laughed together at the ridiculousness of the situation. Although Killian loved the more serious moments of their relationship he absolutely adored the sweeter moments like this where it was just he and his Swan laughing and enjoying the other's presence.

-CS-

6 years later Emma smiled at the two young children that sat on the couch in front of her. "...And that kids is the story of how I asked your father to marry me". A teenaged Henry merely rolled his eyes from the ottoman clearly having heard the story on a regular basis.

Killian had chosen that moment to enter the room summoned by the laughter of his children. "I'd still like to point out that you never actually asked me to marry you" he said joining in with the laughter. Even Henry joined in at the sound of his siblings infectious laughter and the slight sass of his father.

"Such a traditionalist," Emma said with an eye roll "he can't stand the thought of a woman beating him to the proposal".

Killian smirked back at her "What else would you expect of a several centuries year old pirate?". The children laughed happily at their parents fake spat. Despite the fact that neither Emma nor Killian had constant parental figures in their childhood they made a great team. No matter what obstacle they faced Killian knew he could get through anything with Emma's smile at his side.


	18. Remember Me

**Remember Me**

 **Author's Note: Personally I don't believe Emma would ever use a memory charm at this point in their relationship but for the sake of this fic she has.**

 **Summary: Sometimes memory can be a cruel fate and at other times it can be a blessed gift. After the death of Killian Jones, Emma finds herself at a loss and with decidedly nothing to lose she enacts a memory charm to wipe her memory. But what happens when Killian returns?**

Emma Swan had lost way too many people in her life, and she had lost her beloved Killian far more than once. And so when faced with the prospect of living her life without him she didn't know what to do. The small very damaged part of her that was still an orphan girl at heart couldn't help thinking that it would have been easier if she had never met him. That same part had let darkness take root in her heart which is what landed them in this situation in the first place. A curse was cast and suddenly none of Storybooke remembered the hero that was Killian Jones.

Finally Emma's heart was at peace but her dreams continued to be plagued by a shaggy dark haired man with a hook for a hand. Although the dreams themselves weren't sad Emma couldn't help but feel sad upon her awakening. She couldn't remember the face of the man from her dreams. Whenever she awoke she was left with the strange recollections of a blurred face that she felt like she should know. Maybe she did know him in another life.

-CS-

Irregardless Emma Swan was determined to be the saviour Storybrooke expected and she set aside her dreams until they faded into the depths of her subconscious. As time passed the dreams became more and more infrequent, but the feeling of melancholic sadness that followed was still just as potent. Life went on and the town of Storybooke remained unaware of the pirate's existence until one fateful day at 8:15. A dark haired man who looked like he had literally been to Hell and back stood facing the clock tower. Despite the mans decrepit appearance he bore a face splitting grin. His eyes glittered with the spray of the sea as he turned to face the blonde that had arrived.

The smile was immediately wiped off his face upon noticing the gun she held pointed toward him. "Who are you?" Emma demanded "and how the hell did you get here?". The woman's statement was unknowingly rather accurate as he had in fact arrived en route from Hell. His face fell upon the realization that his Swan no longer remembered him. She used to look at him like he had the stars in his eyes and now she regarded him with worry and distrust. The love that used to fill her eyes was replaced with confusion and hardness. The look alone was enough to banish all words from his mouth. He heard her remove the safety as she repeated her question "Who are you and how did you get here?".

He swallowed before answering "Killian Jones, but most people have taken to call me by my more colorful moniker... Hook". His usual swagger had disappeared from the statement at the hardness in his beloved eyes. Here he was back to the time so many years ago when Emma Swan threatened him with a knife unless he revealed his true identity.

Emma raised her eyebrows warily. "As in Captain Hook?" she asked. Killian merely nodded his head in affirmation. "Funny" Emma said "I was expecting you to have a perm". Killian raised his hands slowly to show that he was unarmed, other than the hook for a hand of course. Emma seemed somewhat comforted by his movement and lowered her gun. She didn't holster it though. "How did you get into Storybrooke?" She asked "it isn't really on any map".

He chuckled darkly "one could say I had a hell of a time getting here". The joke however was lost on Emma who began to once again raise her gun. "Okay. Okay. I managed to find a magical scroll with which I can pass across the town border" Killian said trying to calm her nerves.

Emma narrowed her eyes "That doesn't explain how you knew where the town was".

Killian let out a calming breath "That is an entirely different story".

A glare of annoyance crossed his beloved's features. "I've got all of the time in the world" she said rather icily. Her icy tone felt like an icicle being thrust into his chest and twisted.

He held her glare with a small sheepish grin. "Use your power Emma and know that I'm not lying. I live here with all of you, at least I did until I died" Killian said slowly allowing his words to seep into her. The small shred of Emma that remembered being the orphan girl crossed her arms angrily at him. He could see the look in her eyes calculating his words. He could see the moment in which she deemed his words to be the truth.

"I don't understand" she said holding herself even tighter.

He sighed slightly before he spoke "Neither do I. I came back after over a year and you don't seem to remember me. I was expecting to run home and be welcomed into your arms and instead I'm being held at gunpoint". He slowly walked with his hands raised until they were only a few feet apart. Although she seemed wary about his approach she didn't prevent it nor did she back away. Emma Swan was always one to stand her ground.

Some unknown emotion seemed to cross her face as she watched him. "Who are you to me?" she asked him quietly.

Killian was pretty sure he felt his heart stop at her question. Was it possible that a small fraction of her remembered him? He decided that telling her everything at once was likely to scare her off; after all suddenly running into someone who had supposedly found a way back from the dead is a lot to deal with, let alone that person being your true love. "I'm someone important" he said rather vaguely.

"Define important?" She asked.

-CS-

"It's complicated" he replied to her. Emma couldn't help the nagging feeling that plagued her subconscious. She felt like a part of her knew him, even if she didn't remember who he was he somehow seemed familiar. It would seem that eliminating your true love from your memory is far more difficult than Emma initially anticipated. Not that Emma was aware she had done so of course.

Before she could say anything more he continued "I once said that we made quite the team". A sad smile crossed his face as he got a far away look. Emma felt rather gloomy due to her inability to remember whatever moment he was recollecting.

-CS-

Days of awkwardness ensued in which the townsfolk adjusted to the 'new' fairytale character that had strolled into town. Emma had largely avoided being around the pirate as she was unable to shake the feeling of melancholy in her that his presence produced. She knew avoiding him was probably tactless, considering the heartbroken look on his face whenever she made a half hearted excuse to excuse herself from the situation; but she couldn't help the desire to flee that gripped darkly at her heart. Emma Swan was really good at running from her emotional problems and not the greatest at facing them. Her dreams returned full force on the third day after his return. The man with a hook from her dreams undeniably had to be Killian. She didn't really know how to face him the next day and hoped that perhaps she could avoid it entirely.

Fate was never that kind though, and so as she opened the door to Granny's she ran full tilt into him. "Careful love. We wouldn't want you falling for me" he said with a smirk. She merely rolled her eyes. How the her of the past fell for him and his cheesy lines she would never know. Although she had to admit she was slightly endeared by his flirting. Objectively he was ridiculously attractive, and he was funny; but Emma had walls as thick as mountains so breaking through them was not as easy task.

Emma only had partial memories of brief moments from her dreams, which for all she knew were hallucinatory and not based in fact. Still she couldn't help the leap of her heart in his presence or the way she felt like smiling and laughing at his jokes. She could ask him about her dreams, after all she knew he wouldn't try lying to her; but asking him meant giving him hope that she might remember more, and hope was a dangerous thing. As Mary Margaret was fond of saying 'happy endings always start with hope'. She could possibly have her happy ending if she just was willing to open herself up to him, to the promise of the future.

Emma took a deep breath to prepare herself before saying "Kiss me".

Clearly the many responses Killian was expecting did not include the words 'kiss me' because his ever expressive eyebrows nearly launched off his face in surprise. "What?" he asked, his confusion evident in his voice.

Emma looked him in the eyes and tried to ignore the crowd at Granny's who where now beginning to stare at their interactions. She sighed slightly before repeating herself "kiss me".

"Not that I have a problem with kissing you Swan; but I would like to know why you suddenly have the desire to kiss these luscious lips after avoiding me for so long" he replied.

Emma thought for a few moments in silence before replying "The Emma I was loved you fiercely, it's actually kind of scary how much I cared for you. I want to give us a chance". That seemed to be all the prompting Killian needed as he crashed his lips against hers. A bright flash of light accompanied their kiss and all the memories of Killian returned to Emma's mind. They separated and Killian rested his forehead against hers. She looked up into his eyes. "I've missed you so much" she said tears pouring out of the corner of her eyes.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "I've missed you too" he said slightly choking up.

Henry ran up from the corner of Granny's and threw his arms around Killian. "I can't believe I forgot you" Henry shouted. The restaurant erupted into heart felt hugs and tears.

Snow smiled at him "we're so glad to have our missing member of the family back".

Charming cried 'manly tears' at the return of his memories. He managed to choke out "Emma Swan don't you ever let this man go again" between his tears.

A family united is far better than a family divided. Emma held her pirates hand silently promising to herself that for better or for poorer she would never again forget him. Besides he wouldn't ever let her forget him if he had anything to say about it.


	19. Sick

**Sick**

 **Author's Note: Here is the long overdue fic for the guest that requested that S stand for Sick and that it involve Killian taking care of a sick Emma. Hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much for the fantastic inspiration. I also hope that each and every one of you have a fantastic day today.**

One of the things about being the towns saviour that sucked the most was the lack of sick days. The villains that plagued the town of Storybrooke couldn't care less if the saviour had a fever, in fact they preferred Emma not being in her top form as it made the town easier to attack. Luckily with the latest villain vanquished, Emma was finally getting some long overdue respite from her cold. She awoke not to the ringing of her alarm clock but to a cup of warm hot chocolate with cinnamon placed on her bedside table and her pirate absent from her side. She coughed loudly clearing her throat of the phlegm that had collected overnight. She ran her fingers over the bedsheets on his side to find them rather cool. Clearly he had been gone for awhile. Perhaps he couldn't sleep with all of her incessant coughing. Emma felt a bit guilty at the idea that her coughing kept her pirate up. She knew she certainly didn't. She sipped silently at the drink. It was still warm so Killian couldn't have gotten far. She glanced at the clock to find that she had ridiculously overslept and should probably get up, even if she felt like walking death.

The silence that pervaded the room was broken by a loud "Bloody Hell" coming from somewhere within the house. Emma decided it was time to investigate before her pirate managed to break something; the incident in which he nearly electrocuted himself with a toaster was still fresh in her mind. She had had to explain to him that yes although his metal hook was handy under no circumstances should it be stuck into the toaster to get the toast out. She slipped on her slippers and shuffled slowly out of the room with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Unless he wanted to risk burning off his precious eyebrows. She followed the voice letting out occasional swears into the kitchen to discover her pirate battling with something on the stovetop. She watched his ongoing struggle for a few moments before alerting him to her presence with a cough.

He turned to look at her embarrassedly, clearly not wanting her to see him in his skirmish. His sheepish expression quickly faded to one of concern as he asked "Sorry love, did I wake you?".

Emma merely waved her hands dismissively. "It's all good. I should have been up hours ago" she said in hopes of lessening his unease. Killian still looked like he felt a bit guilty for waking his beloved. "So how can I help?" Emma asked in an attempt to segue the conversation.

He smiled as he moved to escort her out of the kitchen. "You can help me by going and resting" he replied.

"But" Emma began to interject.

"No buts" Killian cut her off. "You do more than enough for this town and myself, the least you can do is allow me to pay back the favour" he said closing the kitchen door in her face. Emma realized that this argument wasn't going to end up in her favour and began her path back to the bedroom. Her walk was sluggish at best as she shuffled towards their room. The sounds of her pirate's skirmish followed her down the hall. She reentered the room and collapsed into the cool sheets of their bed. Another hour of sleep couldn't hurt her.

-CS-

Her slumber was interrupted by the soft sounds of her boyfriend's voice calling her name. Her eyelids fluttered open to reveal the face of her beloved. Man did she luck out. She managed to find a guy with a heart of a hero who also possessed the face of one. He waited for her to sit up and then carefully placed the breakfast tray across her lap.

Emma laughed joyfully. "I should try and get sick more often, if it comes with breakfast in bed" she said between laughs.

He merely rolled his eyes." It's actually more like lunch in bed" he said while gesturing towards the alarm clock on her bedside table.

"Thank you for everything" Emma said a short grin flashing across her features.

"Anytime love" Killian said while flashing his own half smile.

-CS-

The rest of the day was spent cuddling and watching the Princess Bride which is Emma's personal favourite movie. She laughed as Killian glared at the screen for supposedly stealing his lines. Only he was supposed to say 'as you wish' not the blasted talking picture box. Still Emma couldn't help but enjoy how completely domestic they had become as a couple. Snuggling together as her pirate stole the occasional kiss was definitely her happy ending.

-CS-

A week later when Emma had recovered from her cold she made sure to nurse her pirate back to health. She also made sure to remind him that his illness was the very reason she had warned him that stealing kisses was a bad decision. Still Killian didn't seem like he regretted his choices one bit. Emma certainly didn't mind taking care of him; especially when he muttered how perfect a wife she would be as he drifted off to sleep.

 **Author's Note: Thanks so much for making it this far in my fic writing journey. If you enjoyed it so far feel free to drop a review.**


	20. Travel

**Travel**

 **Author's Note: Inspired by the prompt "We're both on the same multiple stop flight schedules to go to the same destination so we might as well stick together. Also your shoulder is a very comfortable pillow." by Mewlink on Tumblr. Apologies for the late update, but this chapter is longer than the typical one so hopefully it makes up for the tardiness.**

 _Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away._ The voice of Frank Sinatra crooned out of Emma's speakers. It was decidedly way too early for New York's resident bail bonds woman. Emma reached out to stop the music while glancing at the alarm clock. No one in their right mind should ever have to wake up at 4 a.m., especially after wrapping up a case at 1 a.m. the previous night. Sadly Emma didn't have much choice in the matter if she wanted to make her plane on time. A quick shower later and Emma was dressed and ready to go. In Emma's experience comfortable clothes were the best to travel in so she merely donned a pair of jeans and a tee with her damp hair pulled up into a pony tail. Grabbing her suitcase she climbed into the awaiting Uber.

Unfortunately for Emma it began raining during her trip and her driver refused to drive her to the front door. By the time she made it through the parking lot her entire body was soaked to the bone. So far her trip wasn't off to a great start. The only thing that could make her start worse is to find out... Her flight had been delayed. She sighed as she glanced at the board detailing flight times. Not only was her flight delayed but she would likely miss her connecting flight. She glared at the sign hoping that she could change the information by sheer force of will. It made it significantly worse that it was no longer necessary for her to get up for the 6 a.m. flight. As if the weather itself could sense her frustration a voice came over the intercom informing her that her flight would be further delayed. If it wasn't for all of the children present Emma Swan would have aimed her middle finger at the screen.

Emma decided that if she had to sit at the airport for another 4 hours she might as well get something to eat. The idea of a good breakfast was enough to instil enthusiasm into Emma's otherwise bleak mood. Although the airplane food court food was by no means stellar, Emma had certainly had far worse in her life. Her childhood in the foster system didn't really provide the tastiest food. She stared dismally into the small bowl of scrambled eggs.

Her silence was interrupted by the voice of an angel. Well perhaps not an angel but the next closest thing. "Mind if I sit down?" He asked in a beautifully lilting voice. She glanced upwards to see the face of an absolutely stunning man. His face was haloed by the light of the airport cafeteria and his smile was enough to brighten her gloomy mood.

"Of course" she said a smile crossing her features.

The man sat down across from her "Thanks love, the name is Jones, Killian Jones".

Emma chuckled at his introduction "Nice to meet you Mr. Bond. I'm Emma Swan".

He joined in her laughter "It looks like you got into a fight with the ocean and lost. What happened to you?".

She raised her eyebrows in question "the ridiculous amount of rain that decided to torrent down as I was getting out of my cab". The sigh she let out was one of complete exhaustion for the horrific start to her day.

He looked at her with concern "Are you alright lass?".

Emma was touched by his genuine sounding concern "I'm okay really, I've just had a rather tough start to my day that's all". He nodded his head in understanding.

The two sat in amicable silence for a few minutes as they munched on their breakfast. Although she was appreciating the silence, Emma couldn't help herself from trying to draw out more words from her accented partner. "Where are you headed?" She asked hoping to hear his lilting voice once more.

He smiled as a far away look danced across his eyes. "I'm going back home to London to visit my brother Liam and his wife Elsa" he informed her. "It's been four years since I've made the trek back home. I've never even seen their two kids in person" he said. She smiled, thankful for having succeeded in bringing out more of his voice. "What about you?" He asked.

Emma's smile spread even bigger thinking about her plans. "I'm also headed to London. My best friend Mary Margaret is getting married in a nearby castle. She's always wanted the stereotypical princess wedding and when her Prince Charming proposed in front of Cinderella's castle at Disney I knew he was the one for her" she said. Mary Margaret was so princess like that Emma wouldn't have been surprised if she talked to birds in her spare time.

He smirked at her words "You don't sound like the Fairytale sort".

"I'm not" she said "but they are, and he makes her happy". Emma was extremely protective of her friends and so when Mary Margaret had come tittering home about the princely fellow she met at the now and arrow range Emma had been immediately hesitant. After meeting him though, Emma felt far more reassured, and David had never hurt her friend. David had become as much a part of her life as Mary Margaret was. Her mom friend had found the perfect dad friend and the two were now pseudo parenting Emma all the time. Although Emma acted like she didn't appreciate all their protective caring she secretly loved their influence in her life. It was far nicer going over to eat a home cooked meal then the Mac and cheese she typically ate. Emma was glad Mary Margaret found David and she couldn't be happier that they were finally tying the knot.

Emma and Killian sat talking for far longer than was strictly necessary to eat their breakfast. Emma had to admit Killian had a great sense of humour. She learned that he worked as a ferry captain organizing tours around New York. Apparently it was part of the Disney corporation and he dressed up as Captain Hook, although he assured her that his ensemble did not involve a ridiculous perm. She told him of some of her favourite cases in the bail bonds biz, which were met with melodious laughter on his part.

Instead of merely going their own way the two walked side by side to the terminal and sat on accompanying chairs. Emma found waiting for her delayed flight to be a lot more bearable with Killian to talk to. She thought a lot in life would be far more bearable with him around.

Emma couldn't help the yawn that escaped her mouth. She got up ridiculously early so sue her if she needed to yawn a bit. He merely chuckled as she moved to stifle her yawn. "Tired?" He asked.

She returned his laugh with a rebuttal of her own "whatever gave you that idea?". He rolled his eyes in response. The two lapsed into companionable silence as they were both much too tired to continue on their discussion.

The silence was eventually broken by the echoing of the intercom announcing that their flight was now boarding. The two glanced at each other before rising from their chairs and heading to the line up. A tumultuous amount of chatter arose as the disgruntled passengers lined up for their delayed flight. Emma vowed to get a coffee from the plane cart when it went around. Her head was pounding from a mixture of lack of sleep and frustration.

She slid into her seat and rested her head against the cool window of the plane. A young boy with brown hair sat down beside her. He introduced himself as Henry Mills before opening his book of fairytales. Emma appreciated that he at least seemed like a quiet kid which was good since she would be spending the next several hours beside him. A few minutes passed as the passengers settled into their seats. The crew began the standard safety procedure discussion. Emma couldn't help herself from staring at the illustrations in the kids book and ignoring the instructions going on around her. She had been on a plane more than enough times as a kid. She was once an unaccompanied minor much like her flight mate; as she traveled to new foster homes. She could tell Henry wasn't headed to a new foster home though, he had far too much hope in his eyes.

A woman's hand came to rest on Henry's arm and Emma traced the path upwards to her face. The dark haired woman gestured to someone Emma couldn't see from her seat. "Henry this man has been kind enough to swap seats with you so that you can sit beside me" she said smiling at the boy. The woman escorted her son Henry to sit elsewhere in the plane. Emma was surprised when Killian slid into the seat beside her.

"Fancy seeing you here captain" Emma said while smiling up at him.

"Well I really lucked out when I agreed to give up my seat. Not that I had much of a choice, the woman looked like she might cast a spell to light me on fire if she didn't get her way" he said while returning her smile. Emma had to cover her mouth with her hand to prevent an over the top laugh from escaping. Emma was really the one who lucked out, she exchanged a sweet quiet kid for a hilarious and handsome guy who she intended to use the flight time to get to know better.

Emma met a lot of guys through her work but none of them were exactly the type one would want to date. Bail skippers weren't high on Emma's list of dateable guys, nor were guys who were cheating on their wives: Emma had a side job as a detective. She couldn't help thinking that given the chance Killian could make a good candidate for her next date.

As the plane took off Emma let off another large yawn. "Here" Killian said while turning his shoulder towards her.

"Are you offering your shoulder as a pillow?" Emma asked.

"Only if you want it" he replied. Emma shrugged her shoulders slightly before resting her head down. She let out a sigh of contentment without even meaning to. She had to give him credit, the man had comfy shoulders. It also didn't hurt that he smelled nice; his scent was a mixture of the ocean, leather, and something that Emma couldn't place which she decided must be distinctly Killian. She felt her headache ebb away as the sweet tendrils of sleep ensnared her. Emma wasn't normally the kind of person to fall asleep on strangers but desperate times call for desperate measures and Emma was desperately tired.

She awoke later to a slight shake of her shoulder. Killian informed her that the plane was preparing for landing in the Toronto Pearson airport and due to favourable air conditions they would have a chance at catching their connection. He flashed her his watch, "we will have approximately 15 minutes when we land to make it to our connecting flight". The two began gathering their bags in preparation for the run. As soon as it was their turn Emma and Killian burst forth from their plane. Emma mentally pondered that they must have looked pretty ridiculous; two people running through the airport at full speed while laughing at the absurdity of their situation. Killian had grabbed her hand at one point and was pulling her full tilt, hurtling through the mass of people. He glanced down at his watch and determined that they only had five minutes and were less than halfway there. But they had committed to running and were determined that come hell or high water they would make that flight.

And so when two very out of breath adults arrived at their gate the door to board closed directly behind them. The two practically collapsed into their respective seats and prepared for their 7 hour flight to London's Gatwick airport. As luck would have it Emma was seated next to Killian for the flight so they could continue on their discussion and maybe Emma could snag a few more hours of shut eye. It had been too long since she had had an arm to snuggle on; and she intended to take full advantage of her partner's overally comfortable arm.

Emma felt comfortable talking to Killian. Despite having just met him this morning, she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that she had known him for years. Perhaps she knew him in another life. Talking to him was awesome and when Killian suggested they watch The Pirates of the Caribbean Emma was only to happy to oblige.

Hours later the plane began it's final descent into London, and Emma found herself mourning her time with Killian. Chances were that when she stepped off the plane she might never see him again. She decided that Killian was too good a guy to let walk out of her life without giving it a shot. She turned to him to discover that he had already been staring at her profile. The plane lurched as it hit the Tarmac and the moment was gone as the commotion of the plane hitting asphalt ensued.

He had insisted on helping carry her carry on off the plane, and the two proceeded to wait patiently (or at least patiently in his case) at the carousel for their baggage. In Emma's defence it had been a long day and her stubbornness wasn't normally synonymous with patience. With their bags in hand Emma turned awkwardly to Killian. She wanted more than anything to extend the brief amount of time they would have before it was time to part ways. He smiled at her and turned to leave.

"I know you have tons of visiting and catching up to do, but..." Emma blurted out before trailing off.

Killian turned back to her with raised eyebrows and prompted her to continue "But what, milady?".

"But if you have time" Emma continued "I would love if you would be my date to the wedding".

"As you wish" he replied with a flourish and a bow. Emma couldn't help the laugh that escaped due to his over the top theatrics. An exchange of numbers later Emma left the Gatwick airport in a far better mood than her day had started. It was clearly a flight that she would remember for a long time.

 **Author's Note: Reviews are greatly appreciated and feed my muse so if you enjoyed this chapter feel free to drop a review.**


	21. Under the Ocean

**Under the Ocean**

 **Pirate Captain Killian Jones can't stop himself from falling for the beautiful mermaid that saves him from the wreckage of his ship.**

It was a losing battle. The storm had battered his ship and crew past the point of exhaustion. Killian always joked that he would die the death of a captain and go down with his ship, he just never expected it would be so soon. He always foresaw himself losing a valiant battle against a much stronger foe or dying at the hands of the crocodile, rather than losing his ship to a battle with the sea. As Killian had learned in the past the sea could be quite the cruel mistress. When the deck became more open ocean than dry hull he prepared himself to die. It was fitting that his body would lie on the ocean floor as he had spent most of his life at sea. Life as a pirate taught him to recognize when he was fighting a losing battle and so he stopped fighting the water that was now forcing its way into his lungs. As he blacked out Killian swore he could hear the beautiful sound of singing, but it was probably just his oxygen deprived brain playing tricks on him. Still he found the music comforting as his eyes fluttered closed.

Killian awoke to the face of a beautiful blonde haired woman whose silhouette was haloed by the light of the sun from behind her. Killian couldn't help but wonder if he had died and his soul somehow made it to heaven. At least he thought that until his body wrenched to the side as he hacked up a great deal of seawater. Clearly he had somehow survived. Killian Jones had always been a survivor and skilled at overcoming things that seemed impossible, but typically those impossible things didn't involve his entire ship and crew sinking into the ocean.

He was vaguely aware of the woman drawing soothing circles on his back as he continued to cough. "It's all right" she whispered comfortingly as she continued to rub his back. Eventually the coughing subsided and Killian was able to turn to face the angelic woman behind him. Woman was the wrong word Killian surmised as he took in the long tail that extended from her body. He supposed that mermaid was a far more accurate description. Perhaps Killian really had died because mermaids were known for luring sailors to their death with their singing, not helping them overcome a drowning. Although Killian imagined that one likely didn't experience nausea in the afterlife. Yet here he was, a beautiful mermaid rubbing his back and helping to make sure all of the water was coughed up from his lungs.

His studying of the mermaid was interrupted when it hit him; Killian was now a pirate without a ship. His home for several centuries was completely gone, sunk deep beneath the waves. Sure Killian was glad he was still alive but he was now essentially homeless. Sailing the seas on the hunt for the crocodile had been his life's purpose and now for the first time in several centuries he was lost. A talented pirate never got lost as he could use the stars to guide his way, but without a ship with which to follow the stars the knowledge was essentially useless. His life seemed rather purposeless.

Killian supposed at his age of several centuries he was overdue for a midlife crisis, so he decided to take the loss of his ship in stride. After all it wasn't like he could swim to the bottom of the sea and regain the vessel. He could find another way to find the crocodile and eliminate him from the face of the Earth. Killian was vaguely aware that the mermaid had stopped rubbing his back and was now sitting on the beach beside him. She looked gorgeous with the tide slowly cresting over her glittering tail. He gathered his thoughts and decided it was time for him to acknowledge her presence. "Thank you for saving me" his voice came out hoarse likely due to the near drowning. She merely nodded her head as a means of acknowledgement before slipping back into the water. "Wait. Don't leave" Killian croaked out.

She inclined her head back to him and spoke "We will meet again Killian". Killian was mildly surprised that the mermaid knew his name. Although the name Captain Hook was well known across the seven magical seas very few people knew his actual name. He watched her swim away until she was just a blip on the horizon. Left with only his thoughts, Killian was once again focused on the fact that he had nowhere to go. Although Killian had only the clothes on the back to his name he did have his name to carry on. The very name Captain Hook instilled fear into the hearts of many and that name could carry him far.

-CS-

Months later found the great Captain Hook once again captaining a mighty ship sailing across the sea. Although smaller than his previous ship Killian knew that with time he would once again possess a worthy vessel, although likely not one quite as majestic as the Jolly Roger. Despite having kept his eyes on the sea, Killian had yet to spot the fabled return of the beautiful blonde mermaid who had saved his life. Clearly she had saved him for some reason, even if that reason wasn't apparent to him yet.

At least he hadn't seen her until he was chasing a lead to find the Crocodile in order to make him pay for his actions. The pirate captain was sitting in a pub nearby the dock of the small village when he caught a glimpse of blonde hair. Despite only spending a brief amount of time with the mermaid he could recognize her hair anywhere. So when the blonde hair hovered nearby his table before turning and leaving the pub, Killian immediately got up to follow her. How the mermaid had managed to snag a pair of human legs was unknown to him, but in a world with magic anything is possible. He certainly wouldn't doubt her of achieving what would normally seem impossible. He opened his mouth to call her name only to be reminded that he had no clue who she was. So instead he followed silently behind her until she came to stand in front of the tide. She never looked back but Killian had a feeling that she knew he was there.

As he finally moved to stand beside her she spoke "Hello Killian, so we finally meet again". She angled her head slightly towards him but kept her eyes focused on the horizon of the ocean. "I assume you have many questions **"** she continued "but now is not really the time for them". Killian couldn't help the flair of annoyance that crossed his mind at being told to hold his questions like some small child, but he found himself keeping quiet, lulled peacefully by her rhythmic voice. "I'm here to help you take down your adversary. He is the reason that I am now cursed to spend my days in the water. I want to help you take down the Dark One" she explained. He was surprised that she too had faced off against the crocodile in the past. Killian couldn't stop himself from wondering how someone as angelic seeming as herself had found herself in the dark one's bad books. Had she not held her end up of a deal? However she had ended up facing the dark one's wrath, she seemed extremely unlikely to share. All that was important was that Captain Hook had a new ally in his fight against the crocodile.

-CS-

His crew were not happy about the idea of bringing a woman on board. Sailors and pirates alike held the superstition that women were bad luck. However any man who objected to her presence could simply walk the plank under the captain's orders. Besides the woman rarely spent time on the ship as she possessed a mermaid's tale during the day and thereby needed to be in the water. The crew were unaware of this fact, because although most of the men were willing to put up with a woman on board, Killian doubted the discovery of a mermaid would result in anything other than outright mutiny. As far as the crew was concerned Lady Emma chose to spend a majority of her time in her quarters.

Killian had been extremely excited when he finally learned his cohorts name. Something about the name Emma fit her perfectly well. Her name meant whole, which was ironic since Killian was the one who felt whole whenever she was around. For the first time in a long time he had found someone that he genuinely cared about, someone that he felt like he could trust. Not only did he gain an ally in his cause but also a friend to share his stories with. Emma on the other hand always remained rather vague about her past. Although that should have been a turnoff Killian found himself enjoying the challenge of breaking down her walls piece by piece. Never let it be said that the pirate captain wasn't up for a challenge.

As for the night, Emma spent a great deal of time wandering the ship. Every member of the crew knew her by name and many had begun treating her hospitably. Although that was probably less because they liked her and more because treating the fair lady unkindly would result in a swift exit from the ship via the plank. Luckily for Killian only a few of his crew had had to be subjected to such fate. His favourite part of the night would be when his cohort stopped to visit with him as he spun the wheel of the ship. She looked beautiful with her hair aglow under the star light. Sometimes they would talk about their plans for the dark one but at other times they would just make small talk. On rare occasions he would be treated to her singing. His crew would have a hard time focusing on their work whenever she would stop by to sing.

He knew that getting involved with a mermaid would be messy at best; but no matter how many times he tried to convince himself of the contrary he still couldn't help himself from falling for her. Love between a pirate and a mermaid was doomed from the start; but yet Killian didn't seem to care. When she let herself let lose a melodious laugh at his ridiculous jokes he felt as if he had been bewitched. Sometimes he felt like she might share in his feelings; she would watch him man the boat thinking him unaware. But at other times Killian remembered that she was only there to seek her own revenge on the crocodile. She wasn't on the ship because she wanted to be; but because she thought it would be the best way to take down their mutual foe.

He supposed she would want to split ways after they had rid the world of the plague that was the dark one. Anything he started with her would be doomed to end; but that still didn't stop him from wanting more from their relationship.

-CS-

When the final battle came around pitting Killian and Emma vs Rumplestiltskin, Killian was face with the ultimate choice; kill the crocodile or save his accomplice. The dark one held the mermaid dangling on the edge of a precipice above a pit of spikes. Killian could either save her from what would likely be a deadly fall or plunge the dagger into the dark ones chest. If he killed the dark one his hold would fail and Emma would fall into the abyss. If he saved her then the dark one would escape. Either way Killian lost. Surprising to him he found that losing his chance at revenge felt like far less of a loss than losing Emma. So with a sigh of frustration he turned and saved the enchanted woman, letting the dark one flee into the night.

-CS-

There was a lot of yelling after that; her shouting that he should have let her die and killed the dark one and him screaming that she was far more important than his revenge.

Chests heaving with emotion the duo glared daggers at each other. Killian did his best to reign in his anger and quietly asked "if it was the other way around, would you have let me fall?".

She glanced up into his eyes, most of her anger fading away. "Of course not" she replied. "But that's completely different..." She continued before trailing off.

"What makes it different?" he asked tentatively. He could see the mental walls constructing behind her eyes. Clearly she didn't want to talk about whatever reason made it different; which is what made Killian realize what it might be. He lifted his hooked arm and carefully traced the edge of her face. "I love you too much to let you fall" he whispered to her. He watched her absorb his words and the space between them disappeared as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. In the moment Killian didn't care that the crocodile got away; he only cared about Emma's lips on his. He could get use to this.


	22. Valentine's Day

**Author's Note: It may not be Valentine's day but Valentine starts with a V so bear with me. It was either this or a Villian's AU; which the show has kind of already done.**

Just because the Enchanted Forest doesn't have Valentine's day doesn't mean Killian isn't planning on surprising Emma. It had all started with an offhanded comment by David. He had mentioned going out to buy chocolates for Snow and Killian had inquired if it was for an anniversary. David's eyes had practically bulged out of his head when he realized that the centuries old pirate had never heard of Valentine's day.

A quick lesson later Killian found himself sitting on the couch in front of Emma's talking picture box watching a romantic comedy that featured the holiday. He was determined to do as much research as possible in order to make Emma's holiday the best. Not that Killian needed a specific reason to lavish attention on his favourite lady. That being said he definitely didn't mind the excuse. Killian decided that the key to this Valentine's day appeared to be chocolates, flowers, a date somewhere nice, and if the movies held any accuracy an elaborate declaration of love. So that's what he would do, he just needed time to plan it; unfortunately for Killian he was sorely lacking on time due to his late discovery of the holiday and only had a mere 24 hours to come up with a plan to woo his sweetheart.

Killian Jones was a man on a mission tearing across store after store in Storybooke determined to find the most delectable chocolates possible.

-CS-

Emma's Valentine's day began rather unexpectedly. She had spent ages on her own, so Valentine's day wasn't really a holiday that she embraced. So when she awoke to a cup of Granny's hot chocolate with cinnamon on her bedside table a small smile broke across her face. It wasn't like her pirate was aware of the holiday so it was likely more coincidental that he had brought her hot chocolate.

"Good morning love" he whispered from somewhere beside her. His arm wrapped around her as he snuggled his nose into her hair. Emma Swan would never quite get used to waking up next to the fearsome pirate, Captain Hook. He pressed a light kiss into her hair and Emma felt her heart melt a bit towards the pirate. She turned in his arms to face him and then wrapped her arms around him.

Emma Swan was contented with a happy ending that would involve waking up in the arms of her favourite pirate captain. "As much as I'd love to stay with you in bed all day; we actually have plans" he said while suggestively waggling his eyebrows. Emma gave him a light punch in the arm for his teasing. He unwound his arms from her waist and reached for the hot chocolate. "Happy Valentine's day love" he said while handing her the cup with a flourish. If it wasn't for the fact they were laying down Emma was sure the gesture would have been accompanied with an exaggerated bow.

She sipped slowly at her cup. "I wasn't aware the enchanted forest celebrate Valentine's day" Emma said.

"It isn't celebrated; but I wanted to treat you to all the holidays that this land has to offer" he replied. Emma was touched that her pirate had not only learned about the holiday but had also decided to celebrate it for her benefit.

After taking 'far too long to possibly keep on schedule' Emma finally finished drinking her hot chocolate. Apparently they had a schedule to stick too and Killian was nothing but prompt; apparently a life at sea meant early mornings and a tight schedule. She did appreciate that he didn't wake her up at the crack of dawn like his previous schedule entailed.

The first thing Emma noticed when she left the house was the white stallion that stood poised outside. "Where did you get the horse" Emma asked to express her curiosity.

"I know a guy" Killian replied without any further elaboration. With a surprising amount of dexterity for someone who had spent his life at sea Killian vaulted his leg over the horse. He extended his hand down to her and pulled her up onto the horse with him. "Hang on tight love" he said while grasping the horse's reigns. Emma certainly didn't mind having an excuse to wrap her arms around her favourite pirate.

"You know that this is all highly unnecessary" Emma said.

"Yes" he replied "but that doesn't mean I'm not going to keep it up".

-CS-

The two came to an open clearing in the forest. Killian slid off the horse and helped Emma dismount. After tying up the horse Killian spread a blanket out and revealed a picnic basket from within. As if on cue Emma's stomach growled which was met with raised eyebrows on Killian's end. The breakfast was absolutely divine and Emma was at a loss as to how her one-handed pirate had managed to cook such a feast. Apparently he had picked up some tips from Granny's.

Most of all she enjoyed domestic moments like this; where it was just her and her pirate doing something that any normal couple might do. Although generally breakfast didn't require a white stallion to ride on. But fairytale couples lead interesting lives so Emma was willing to accept the normalcy; after all white stallions were far more preferable to villains attacking the town.

-CS-

Killian's Valentine's Day date was comprised of every ridiculously over the top romantic moment that one could possibly fit in to the day. Breakfast in the forest was followed by another horseback ride. The ride concluded with ice cream at Storybrooke's only ice cream shoppe. Emma would never stop being amused by Killian's constant amazement at modern things. He never seemed to understand the 'magical foods of the realm' but he knew that Emma liked the ice cream and that was good enough for him.

After ice cream he took her for a ride out on the ocean on a small boat. Emma loved to see him out on the water. He always looked so happy with the salty wind whipping through his slightly shaggy hair. The colour of his eyes matched the waves lapping the sides of the boat.

Killian had arranged to have a candlelit supper under the stars on his boat. The twinkling of the stars beautifully lit up the boat. Emma and Killian sat close together, the table covered with a cloth the only barrier between them.

For whatever reason her pirate seemed nervous, he kept scratching the back of his neck and had issues holding the conversation. "Is everything all right?" Emma asked him. The concern in her voice seemed to calm him somewhat. He took a deep calming breath to center himself before standing from his chair. He offered her his hand and she stood taking it. They slow danced for a few minutes to the tune of their own song. Suddenly Killian stopped midstep and a look of confusion crossed over Emma's face. Once again Killian took a steadying breath which heightened Emma's concern. The concern ebbed away with his words.

"Emma Swan, you can be the most stubborn person on the planet; but you also care more than anyone I have ever met. You drive me insane all of the time, but I don't mind insanity so long as it's with you. I use to think my only home was the Jolly Roger but now I have a home in you. I spent a lot of time alone in Neverland, enough to know that I never want to be alone again. So if you would do me the honour of letting me spend the rest of my life with you; I would be eternally grateful" Killian managed to get out while speaking rather quickly. Emma was pretty sure his mile a minute speech was probably due to nerves. It was actually kind of sweet how nervous he was. He then got down on one knee and opened a ring box from within his leather jacket. The ring was absolutely stunning. It was white gold with a grouping of diamonds forming the outline of a swan.

"You are not just... You aren't just asking me to marry you because it's Valentine's Day and you think you are supposed to?" Emma stuttered out.

"No. Gosh no." Killian said while standing up. "I've had the ring for over a month. I've just been trying to work up the courage to ask you." he added on.

Emma threw her arms around him in an embrace. She nuzzled her head into the curve of his neck and held him so that he couldn't see the tears streaming down her face.

"Can I take that as a yes?" He asked her. She merely nodded her head into his neck. The grin of joy that cracked across his face was impossible to be matched by anyone.

Despite never having heard of the holiday until a few days before Killian thought he did a pretty good job of making it special. Although he didn't know how he was possibly going to top it next year.


	23. Wonderland

**Wonderland**

 **Author's Note: For clarification in this universe the story of Alice in Wonderland does not exist; instead I hope you all enjoy the tale of Emma in Wonderland. I've taken quite a few liberties with the story so hopefully you can still enjoy it.**

Young Emma Swan always thought that the world deserved a little more magic. She dreamed of untold worlds like those in her book of fairytales.

But as she grew up and nothing magical ever happened she lost hope in the magical worlds her books foretold. Adult Emma was far more practical. She stopped believing in the magic of heroes coming to save her. She learned that she could save herself from troubles instead of waiting for some heroic prince that would never show up. The Emma Swan that wore a uniform of a red leather jacket was born; and she wore that coat like a piece of impenetrable armour.

Magic wasn't real. In this world you had to stand up for yourself; and Emma was determined not to let anyone push her around.

Red Leather Jacket Emma was as tough as her circumstances needed. But part of her; that small childhood part still wanted to believe in magic. Sure she didn't need the prince to come and save her; but she surely wouldn't mind the magical kingdoms with the stories of good vanquishing over evil.

Emma Swan believed that the world was a bad place; at least until that fateful day where she met the talking cricket. Crickets don't talk you say? Well this cricket does and if Emma didn't hear it with her own two ears she would probably be saying the same thing. But let's get back to the story shall we... Emma Swan was late. Her last job as a bails bond person had made her late for her appointment; and so she found herself running as fast as she could through the streets of New York City.

Rats were a common feature of New York. Anyone who inhabited there was use to seeing them scurry about. New Yorkers however were not used to seeing a teeny tiny cricket dressed in a suit jacket and top hat.

Emma was running so late that she almost completely missed the rather unusual sight before her. The only reason she noticed the cricket was because of a small voice telling her to watch where she was walking. Stopping just short of squashing the bug Emma looked down to see the cricket just in front of her feet. Emma's mouth dropped into an O as she examined the suited bug in front of her.

"Excuse me Miss" the cricket said "I'm running rather late. Do you mind moving out of the way?". Although Emma was a little dumbfounded she did scoot backwards out of his path. "Thanks miss" the little bug said while tipping his hat. He began heading on his way. Emma remained frozen for a few minutes before coming to the realization that she had probably gone insane. After all suit wearing, walking, talking crickets were not real. Still Emma Swan was a detective, well she was a bail bonds woman but that was close enough. So if she was truly bananas the least she should do is follow the cricket, after all at this point there was probably no way she could make her dentist appointment.

If it wasn't for the fact that Emma faced off against criminals on a regular basis she probably would have been hesitant about following a bug down the sketchy alleyways of New York. After all what could make things worse; she had completely flipped her lid so a possible mugging didn't really seem all that threatening. She made sure to keep a suitable amount of distance between her and the cricket to prevent him from realizing she was following him. Was the cricket even a guy? Emma guessed he likely was based on the suit jacket but one could never be sure.

Emma followed the bug to a small homey looking restaurant called Granny's. Instead of entering the restaurant the cricket walked around the back and paused in front of a man hole cover. The bug knocked a rhythm of four beats on the lid before the lid slid aside revealing an array of bright lights. The cricket jumped down the hole and the lid sealed itself back into place.

At this point Emma had dedicated herself to following the cricket on whatever wild and wonderful adventure it was planning to partake in. She thought nothing of knocking on the manhole cover and having it slide open. She was a bit surprised to see no ladder descending into the depths, rather she could only see the light gleaming from within. Maybe Emma Swan wasn't insane; perhaps she was merely dreaming. Like a diver preparing to make the plunge Emma plugged her nose and jumped over the edge.

Time seemed to stop as Emma descended down the hole. A brilliant array of colours whipped by her as she fell. She couldn't have told anyone how long she was falling for, it could have been minutes or it could have been hours. Emma's legs buckled underneath her as she hit the ground.

Of all the things she was expecting to see at the bottom of a sewer it was not a huge expanse of green forest and a bright blue sky overhead. Emma looked up to see that the hole through which she fell was completely gone. Everywhere she looked was green forest and the cricket was nowhere to be seen. With nothing to go on Emma picked a direction and began plotting her path through the forest.

After an hour of walking Emma came across a wolf blocking the pathway of a bridge crossing a small river bed. She stopped approximately ten feet from the wolf. Emma stared in fascination as she witnessed the wolf morph into a beautiful woman wrapped in a red cloak.

"And I've officially gone insane" Emma said.

"Don't worry Emma, we're all mad here" the woman replied to Emma's unasked question.

"How do you know my name?" Emma asked cautiously.

"Everyone here knows your name Emma. The prophecy foretells that one Emma Swan will come and defeat the Queen of Hearts Regina" she answered.

"Where exactly is here? And what do you mean by a prophecy? I'm certainly nobody's saviour" Emma spoke.

"Here is Wonderland and the prophecy is a tale as old as time; or at least as old as this realm" she said.

Emma had so many more questions, but before she could ask another the red cloaked woman transformed back into a wolf and ran off into the trees.

Emma didn't want to be anyone's saviour, and she certainly didn't want to have anything to do with this Queen Regina. With nothing else to do Emma decided that she might as well cross the bridge, after all it was the only sign of civilization that she had seen the entire time. As her walk continued Emma began to hear the noises of something clattering accompanied by some soft music. She followed the noise of the music and eventually stumbled into an open clearing with a table at its center.

The table was piled high with dishes and cups of various colours and sizes. But most importantly there was a person; an actual person seated at the table. Although he was a bit of an odd person, he seemed to be wearing what looked like a very old captain's cap upon his head.

"Hello" Emma called to the man at the table.

He turned to face Emma and beckoned her closer. Once she had gotten close enough to see the brilliant blue of his eyes he opened his mouth to speak "Hello love, welcome to our tea party". He gestured to the Dalmatian sitting in the chair beside him "this is Pogo." He then gestured to a small mouse "and this is Mickey". The mouse appeared to be drinking from the tea cup that it was standing beside. "Oh and where are my manners. I am Killian Jones but most people just call me the Mad Hatter" he then took Emma's hand and kissed it. "It's lovely to finally meet you Miss Swan" he then stood from his chair and bowed deeply.

Emma had to admit that even in spite of the ridiculous captain's hat perched on his skull that he was extremely attractive. Emma returned his bow with a somewhat awkward curtsy. She was going to have to get used to all of the people in this land somehow mystically knowing her name. It was becoming a bit disconcerting.

He pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit across the table from him. Once Emma sat back down he paced back to his own chair and sat down with a thump. He then handed her the cup of tea and began sipping his silently. It was a bit unnerving, how he stared at her with his piercing blue eyes as if she was a puzzle to be solved. He smiled as if he was happy as to what he had found. "You know love, the red leather jacket can keep out pain but it also does a pretty good job of keeping out love" he said. Emma tugged uncomfortably at the sleeve of her coat. People generally didn't pick up the way she wore her jacket like a piece of armour, at least they didn't pick up on it at first sight. He then gestured at her untouched cup "the tea doesn't bite, unless of course you want it to". Emma gingerly picked up the tea cup from in front of her and gave it an experimental sip. It clearly wasn't drugged so Emma decided to have some more. To be fair she was pretty thirsty after walking in the woods for lord knows how long and her inner lie detector wasn't being set off.

The ground shook slightly sending the cups and dishes spinning across the table. Everyone at the table besides Emma seemed nonplussed by the shaking. "That would be the Queen of Hearts having a tantrum" Killian said.

"How often does this happen?" Emma asked.

"All of the time" the mouse named Mickey replied. After a few minutes the ground stopped shaking and the cups stopped clacking around.

"And I'm supposed to stop her?" Emma asked.

"I believe the prophecy uses the words 'the saviour Emma Swan will come to Wonderland to end the reign of the Queen of Hearts Regina and bring peace to us all', but I'm just a stickler for the words" Killian said.

Emma shook her head in confusion. "So how in the world am I supposed to stop someone who can do that?" Emma asked exasperatingly while gesturing at the trees whose leaves were still shaking.

"Beats me" Killian said "the prophecy isn't really specific on the whole how to take down the queen".

"That's just great" Emma sighed out. The music stopped playing abruptly and was replaced with the sounds of galloping horses.

"It would seem our tea time is up" Killian said while standing up. He offered her his hand "please come with me". Emma against all better judgment took the man's hand. After all dealing with someone called the Mad Hatter was preferable to dealing with what sounded like an army of stampeding horses. He pulled her up and together they ran off into the forest in the opposite direction of the incoming horses. She loved the feeling of the wind whipping in her hair. For the first time in a long time Emma Swan felt free, free from all the burdens of her past.

Emma was impressed that his hat stayed balanced on his head while he ran. He looked a little crazy running as if his life depended on it, which for all Emma knew was in fact the case. She imagined if those were the queen's horsemen and he was caught with her it probably would be his head on a silver platter so to speak.

-CS-

Somewhere on the opposite end of the kingdom laughter ringed out. The noise was emanating from within a large castle.

The inside of the castle was decorated with what was likely a small fortune of red tapestry. On the table sat a small silver plate with a head on top. The Queen of Hearts laughed. This would be the last time her cook was late with her dinner. Although she supposed she now needed to find a new cook.

-CS-

A few hours ago if you had told Emma that she would be sitting by a lake with a man wearing a wacky hat and a Dalmatian and a mouse she would have called you insane. That being said Emma was pretty sure she was insane at this point anyway. Emma found herself transfixed by the carefree look of joy on the Mad Hatter's face. He let his feet swing back and forth in the water.

The peaceful tranquility of the moment was interrupted by the sound of horse hooves crashing through the forest. The mouse scurried away in fright and Pogo ran closely after. Emma was a tad shocked to see the carefree expression of the Mad Hatter turn to one of severity. He grabbed her hand and they again ran off into the forest, this time in the opposite direction of the canine and the mouse.

Emma and Killian were not quick enough, after all no one is lucky enough to escape an army of horses twice in one day unless it's a fairytale. And so Emma and Killian found themselves surrounded by horses draped in red cloth being ridden by knights with red hearts emblazoned across their armour. The lead knight they called the Huntsman removed his helmet and demanded that Emma and the Mad Hatter come with them to the Queen of Heart's castle. Killian was not ready to submit to their demands and pulled a sword out from his clothes. Emma thankfully had a gun from her career as a bail bonds person and she too drew it.

"If that's how it's going to be" the Huntsman said while drawing his own sword. Although the two were able to hold their own in battle they simply couldn't match the numbers of the army.

She thought it was nice to have someone to fight alongside her instead of facing her battles alone. She trusted him to fight alongside her, she trusted him to cover her back while she turned to take down an enemy. Emma Swan didn't trust people lightly; but for whatever the reason she trusted him.

They were like two gears of one machine, seamlessly flowing from one action to the next. He would cover her and she would cover him. Even the greatest of duos could not take down a whole army. That's how Emma found herself handcuffed to Killian Jones being transported through the forest in a cage. In other words Emma Swan had hit a new low. The universe really sucked.

At least the conversation was good. Talking to Killian was a great way to pass the time.

Although the universe sucked even more when she was presented in front of the Queen of Hearts. The smug look on the brunette's face made Emma want to slap it right off her face. She probably would have if her hand still wasn't chained to Killian's.

The woman circled around Emma examining her from head to toe. "Pathetic. I expected the woman fated to be my undoing to be more impressive than you" she practically spat at Emma. She could feel the Mad Hatter tense beside her. It would seem Emma wasn't the only one who felt like slapping Regina. "It needn't matter I suppose. You'll both be dead soon." she said. Regina turned to leave the room and paused before the door "off with their heads". She then slammed the door behind her.

"Well she's a cheerful person" Emma muttered.

"As someone who spent three years in her prison I can attest to her 'kindness'" he whispered back.

"You've been to prison?" Emma asked.

"Yeah" he replied "the Queen of Hearts isn't really happy when you refuse to join her navy". He gestured to the hat "I did get to keep the hat though, so that's a plus".

"As someone who catches criminals for a living, I don't think that's jail worthy" Emma replied.

Emma and Killian were yanked to the side by their conjoined wrists. Apparently the guards didn't seem to care that they were having a conversation.

"You would think the guards who are leading us to our death would be more thoughtful" Killian's voice was practically dripping with sarcasm. Emma laughed at his words. She had to admire his blatant sass in the face of death.

"Perhaps we should complain to her highness about the accommodations" Emma replied with the most serious voice she could muster. Her companion smirked beside her. Emma rubbed at her wrist painfully. The handcuffs were rubbing her wrist raw, it didn't help that their bodies were still being pulled along.

She had to shield her eyes when the darkness of the castle gave way to the bright light of the outdoors. Emma didn't really know how she was supposed to escape this situation; let alone take down the Queen of Hearts. The good news was Emma wasn't going to die alone; the bad news was that meant Killian Jones was going to die with her and she had become rather fond of him.

The Queen of Hearts stood on her balcony overlooking the proceedings. A crowd of peasants gathered below the podium with the guillotine. None of them looked happy, their faces were stretched and gaunt. Even the children looked miserable. Emma couldn't help but feel sorrow for the poor people who resided in Wonderland.

The cuffs were removed and Emma and Killian were turned to face Regina. A whip cracked forcing the two to bow. Emma was angry. She had been through a lot in the past 24 hours and now she was forced to bow to the woman who intended to kill her. Emma didn't intend to go down without a fight. If looks could kill the glare she gave Regina would have levelled the Earth.

"We will begin this evening's proceedings with the execution of the Mad Hatter. I should have done this years ago" Regina addressed the crowd.

The guards grabbed Killian and forced his head into the device. In a few moments the Mad Hatter would be gone. Despite having barely met the guy his death seemed unbearable to Emma.

They say that magic is fed by emotion; and right now Emma's emotions were all over the map.

"You can't do this" Emma shouted at the Queen. Emma felt a thrumming power surge through her veins.

"I believe I can darling. After all I am the Queen of Hearts" Regina replied. She waved her arm and the executioner released the rope sending the blade of the guillotine downwards. The assembled crowd stood in confusion; the blade had stopped just above the Mad Hatter's neck. This was all Emma's doing even if she was unaware of it.

"Well this is a nice surprise" Killian said before laughing hysterically. "You could say I've grown rather attached to this head. Plus without it I can't wear this snazzy hat" he said.

The Queen of Hearts stomped her feet in fury. She yelled for her guards to fix whatever was stopping the blade.

It wasn't intentional. In fact Emma wasn't even aware she was doing it. The wooden support beams of the podium collapsed and the Queen of Hearts fell to the ground with a thump. Her reign of tyranny was over.

-CS-

Days later Emma Swan was declared Queen of the realm. She was a far more just ruler and used her powers for good instead of for evil. The peasants no longer went hungry and the Mad Hatter was excused from execution.

Emma used her newfound time in Wonderland to get to know the Mad Hatter a bit better. He even ended up joining the Royal Navy. Apparently he didn't have an issue in serving the Navy providing his ruler was not unjust.

Emma couldn't really believe how fortunate she was. After all the almost magical circumstances that allowed her to meet the Mad Hatter; had she not been late for her dentist appointment she never would have met the cricket who brought her to Wonderland. She never would have crossed the bridge and met the wolf, nor would she have ever stumbled upon the tea party. In short if all of these magical events had not occurred she never would have had the chance to fall in love with Killian Jones.


	24. X-marks the Spot

**X-marks the Spot**

Pirates are known for chasing after buried treasure. The fairytales always have them following a map to a giant red X painted on the ground. The most famous fairytale pirate of all found his most precious treasure not under an X but instead on a beanstalk.

Well to be more specific he actually found her as he was masquerading as a blacksmith under Cora's orders. He didn't really truly see his Swan until the beanstalk though. On the beanstalk he saw through her tough facade to the brokenness underneath; the same pain that matched his own.

At that moment she became his X. The thing that he would follow across the realms no matter the cost. Just as pirates were known to be foolhardy in the face of danger he would risk everything for her. He gave up his home, his realm, and even on a few occasions his life. He would do anything for her, would give up everything for her, all he wanted was her happiness and safety.

She was his metaphorical X in the sand; which is why when he finally proposed he had to get a bit creative. With the help of some of the lovely people of Storybrooke Killian rigged up the best pirate map he could muster; complete with a prize at the end: a ring of gold interlaced with diamonds that formed the shape of a swan.

-CS-

Emma Swan didn't really like surprises. She had good reasons for this dislike; after all most of the villains that popped up around Storybrooke were surprises. So when Emma awoke to find a piece of a torn map on the pillow next to her she knew her day was off to a bad start. At least it didn't seem like it was from a new villain.

With nothing else to go on Emma decided to get dressed and follow the path that the map detailed before getting cut off. A cup of Granny's hot chocolate topped with cinnamon in hand Emma followed the number of steps that the map detailed.

Fifteen steps out of Granny's. Eighteen steps due west and 105 steps due north. A small X rested on the ground next to her smiling pirate. He handed her a shovel and she dug a few feet into the ground before hitting a small wooden chest. She opened the box to discover a small key and another map fragment.

"Seriously Killian. A treasure hunt? What are we like eight?" she asked.

"I've already checked and you are off today, so please just follow the map" he replied.

"You're lucky I love you" Emma said.

"Aye. That I am" Killian replied with a smile. Killian took the shovel from Emma's hands and allowed her to open the piece of a map.

Of course it was once again only a partial piece of the overarching puzzle. Together they took 42 steps to the east, 502 steps to the south, and finally 3 steps southwest. A small red X was painted on the ground.

"Gee I wonder what I'm supposed to do now" Emma said, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

Killian merely shrugged his shoulders and once again handed her the shovel. A few feet down Emma hit an identical wooden chest to the previous one. Not so surprisingly there was another section of the map. She passed him back the shovel and opened the map, this time with a smile on her face. Emma wouldn't admit it but she was beginning to enjoy their impromptu treasure hunt.

Emma laughed out loud. "Even I know that these directions are going to take us to the Jolly Roger" she said.

"Shhhhh" Killian said holding his finger up to his lips "just play along". Emma rolled her eyes but began counting out the steps that the map detailed, instead of just walking straight there.

-CS-

Killian loved the focused look that crossed Emma's face as she counted out the steps. It was the same face she made when she was attempting to puzzle out how to stop the most recent villain that burst into town.

He watched her spread her arms for balance as she walked the gangplank onto the Jolly Roger. The boat had once been his home but now his heart resided with Emma.

She glanced at the two red planks of wood laying on the floor of the deck "I seriously can't see how I'm supposed to dig a hole in your boat".

"I would despair if you did" he said while bending down on one knee. Killian pulled a ring from the box in his pocket. Emma's eyes popped wide at the sight of the diamond swan ring.

The path that brought Killian to his most precious treasure may have been unorthodox but he wouldn't have had it any other way.

"Will you do me the favour of becoming Mrs. Swan-Jones?" he asked. Emma started bawling and began nodding her head emphatically.

"She said yes" he shouted out with joy. Emma's family and friends rushed out from beneath the deck of the Jolly Roger.

Soon Emma had Mary Margaret's arms wrapped around her neck in a bear hug. David was giving Killian a similarly intense hug. He had clearly had enough time to decide that the pirate captain wasn't all that bad. David was practically sobbing into Killian's shoulder.

Killian Jones had never in his life been quite as happy as he was in that moment. Although he was pretty sure if David didn't let go of him soon he was probably going to be strangled by him.

 **Author's Note: Remember reviews are to me what leather jacketed pirates are to Emma ie. they mean a lot.**


	25. YouTuber AU

**Youtuber AU**

The Princess and the Pirate had over 5 million subscribers and over 400 videos. The two best friends Emma Swan and Killian Jones had started their YouTube channel when they were only fifteen years old, and now five years later the two had a following of extremely protective fans.

Those five million subscribers were a long time coming and Emma and Killian were wondering what they could do to celebrate. And that's when the brilliant idea took shape in Emma's mind. They could do a dramatic fanfiction reading. After all the internet was flooded with fanfictions starring Emma and Killian in basically every situation possible. There were fake marriage AUs, bed sharing AUs, coffee shop AUs, fanfictions featuring what people thought they did whenever the camera wasn't rolling, heck their were even fanfictions about the moments that might have been edited out of their videos. If you could imagine it, chances are someone in the fandom had already written it; not that Emma read fanfictions starring her and Killian. She just did her best to keep up to date with their fans goings on.

It wasn't exactly a secret that about 95% of their fan base shipped them together. Copious amounts of gifs existed to immortalize the supposed heart eyes that they made at each other. Entire blogs theorized about their relationship status and studied when and how they got together as a couple. But here's the thing Emma and Killian weren't a couple; but that didn't stop the world from assuming they secretly were. Emma and Killian had always just been best friends, ever since they were little kids Emma and Killian had spent almost every available moment in each other's presence. At some point along the way Emma Swan had fallen for her best friend; but she had never told him that. Her friendship with him was one of the best things going on in her life and she was determined not to fuck it up like she did everything else in her life. So the Killian and Emma that were a couple existed only in fanfictions written by adamant fangirls and fanboys.

The first step to planning the five million video was to find the perfect fanfiction to read for their video. It couldn't be anything too disturbed, nor could it be anything ridiculously long. So for the first time Emma booted up her computer and searched for fanfictions shipping her and Killian.

First stop at fanfiction station was the ubiquitous coffee shop AU. Emma didn't really understand what all the fuss was about picturing her and Killian working in a coffee shop but after delving twelve chapters deep she could fully immerse herself in the idea of it. She could picture herself and Killian sassing each other back and forth behind the counter. She could practically smell the scents of the hot chocolate with cinnamon that was at the center of the plot. Another eight chapters later she had finished the fic and had tears streaming down her face from the angsty twists and turns. How a fic about running a coffee shop was capable of inducing such feels was beyond her. Sadly the fic was simply too long for their celebratory dramatic reading and Emma had to once again delve into the world of Princess and the Pirate fanfiction.

It was probably best that Emma pick out something shorter this time around. So she picked out something simple, a wedding fic. She glanced at the clock on her wall. At two a.m. in the morning Emma knew starting another fic was probably ridiculously irresponsible at this time of night but that didn't stop her from pressing the read now button. It was only three thousand words. What could possibly go wrong?

The answer is she could feel her heart tighten as 'Emma' said her vows to Killian. As the fictional Killian said the words that Emma had always dreamed of hearing him say she knew there was no way that she could read this fic for the dramatic reading. She was pretty sure she might end up crying if they ended up reading this one out loud. So that fanfic was off the table which was unfortunate because it was pretty good. It was really good actually.

Many more fanfics later a very sleep deprived Emma had finally found the perfect one. It wasn't too sweet, it wasn't too emotional, it wasn't too anything. Beyond maybe being too perfect.

-CS-

Finally the day came in which Emma and Killian were going to film their five million subscriber special. They had decorated Killian's room with balloons and blew little horns.

They did their standard intro and wished everyone a great day. She handed him his copy of the fanfiction with a slightly awkward smile. To his credit Killian had taken the insane idea in stride and was completely on board with it. He waved his hand in front of his face as if he was getting into character.

Emma had to chuckle at how serious he looked. Her friend looked like he was planning to preform Shakespeare for the Queen not read a fanfiction for their adoring audience. "Loosen up a little Killian. You look like you are expecting to be murdered" she said. The serious look immediately faded from his face as he burst into laughter.

"It's called method acting Swan. I'm getting into character" he replied.

Emma laughed in return "you are playing yourself".

"But I want to do it well" Killian replied "It would disappoint the fans if I did a shoddy job". Emma rolled her eyes at him before opening the booklet she had printed out. It had been decided that Killian would read both his part and the narration.

Emma took a slight bow towards the camera "Let us now present 'Once Upon a Time' by Kitwitz on AO3". To be more accurate they were only going to read a select chapter as the story was many, many chapters long. Although Emma had been aiming to pick something short she had kind of fallen in love with the idea of an alternate universe in which she was the saviour and Killian was oddly enough Captain Hook. Emma had to give the writer credit, it was actually a rather unique concept.

Killian began the narration "The pirate would go to the end of the world or time to find his Swan. He had actually traveled through time with her rather recently. For all intents and purposes he was willing to do anything for her".

Emma began her speech "' I wanted to thank you Killian. For going back for me in the first place. In New York. If you hadn't...'".

"Hook interrupted her speech 'It was the right thing to do'" Killian continued.

As the scene continued the two discussed the curse that wiped its way across the realms.

-CS-

Emma bit her lip nervously. "'You traded your ship for me?'" She asked.

Killian nodded his head in assent "Aye".

The action of the scene had brought them close together. They stood only about a foot apart. The scene was over and Killian should have backed away, but he didn't. Instead he leaned in close until he could barely see his reflection in her eyes. And that's when he kissed her. It wasn't in the script. It wasn't supposed to happen but he was kissing her and she was kissing him back. It was magical. All of the fanfics that talked about the magical moment where she and Killian finally kissed seriously underplayed the magic of it. In their defence kissing Killian was pretty indescribable.

Emma got the idea to edit out that little big moment from all of those fics. She had to admit it was kind of a brilliant idea. Maybe they'd share the whole being in a relationship thing with their fans at a later date, or maybe they wouldn't. After all it was completely up to them and them alone.

 **Author's Note: Thanks so much for all of you lovely people for sticking with this fanfic through 25 chapters. With one more chapter to go I feel strangely achieved. I can't say I ever expected to make it this far.**


	26. Zoo

**Zoo**

It wasn't that Killian particularly loved animals; he just loved the way his kids faces lit up whenever they saw the menagerie of creatures. Henry was old enough that he would pretend he wasn't super into the animals but he couldn't help breaking into a smile whenever they got to the panda enclosure. Buttercup would spend all day watching the fishes in the aquarium section if she was given the chance, and Liam's favourite animal was the tiger. He insisted that one day he'd run away and join the circus to become a lion tamer. He had heard that some circuses also had tigers and so he figured becoming a lion tamer would give him access to the tigers. Of course the kid was only three so Killian doubted anything would come of it; but he still worried that his son would find a way into the tiger's enclosure if he could figure out a way to do it. Plus if he inherited his mother's magic he might just find a way to do it.

Perhaps the best part of the zoo was getting to see Emma's smile. Evidentially despite finding out about an entire realm of magic Emma was still more mystified by the animals at the nearby zoo. Killian couldn't help but fall a little more in love with her whenever she pulled their kids along to the park. If he was being honest Emma Swan seemed even more delighted about an excuse to go to the zoo then their children were.

"My feet are sore" Buttercup whined. Henry rolled his eyes dramatically at his sister's antics. Killian's heart warmed when Henry picked up his five year old sister and placed her on his shoulders. Although Henry would complain about his younger siblings cramping his style he loved them and would do anything to make them smile. Killian was glad his daughter would have an older brother to scare away bad boyfriends and look out for her.

Killian never anticipated that his life of villainy would lead to him finding his true love and starting a family. He never thought that instead of sailing the high seas he would be checking out the local zoo with his family. His life of adventure had been exchanged for the adventure that was parenting; and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"How do you feel about getting some ice cream?" Emma asked her family. Killian watched as the faces of his family lit up into huge smiles.

"I think that's a unanimous 'yes'" Killian replied. Liam insisted on having tiger tail ice cream cone. After all if he couldn't climb in the tiger's enclosure he was at least going to have his tiger striped ice cream cone. If it wasn't for the fact that ice cream wasn't really healthy to have a bunch of everyday, Killian would eat it for every meal. Not only was he forever amazed how a realm without magic was capable of creating such a delicious dessert; but he also enjoyed the looks of contentment on his family's faces whenever they indulged in the sweet treat.

Liam managed to get ice cream on the tip of his nose. In his defence he was only three. Emma chuckled as she wiped the dessert off of her younger son's nose. "What am I going to do with him" she murmured quietly. "All clean" she said while smiling at her son.

"Yay" Liam said while clapping his hands in delight.

Killian Jones was a family man and he wouldn't have it any other way.

 **Author's Note: Thanks so much to all of you lovely people who stuck it out this far on my journey through the 26 letters of the alphabet. If you are mourning the loss of The ABC's of Captain Swan feel free to check out my new multi chapter Captain Swan oneshot collection entitled "Every me loves every you". There are already a handful of chapters of it up. To those of you who have followed me as an author you will have already received that little nugget of awesomeness in your mailbox, to everyone else feel free to check it out on my profile. My apologies that this took way longer than I initially anticipated to get out. Thanks so much for joining me on this 36 thousand word behemoth. If you would like to leave a review it would be greatly appreciated.**


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